Dish Networks India

The DTH players are all geared up. Not for providing you cheaper prices this times, but something as equally important if not better, which is getting you new features (and no, we are not talking about a new game or another active channel this time). These features are all the things you’ve always desired on your STB, and the stuff we’ve been talking about since quite some time now. As the title of this article goes, expect the unexpected. But let me list some features we at SaveOnDish are looking forward to from DTH players.

1. Recording facility: Tata Sky Plus already has this, and now it is expected from the other players including Dish TV and Airtel DTH to start offering their viewers with an option such as this so that they could also record their favorite programs in one go and watch them later. I personally am getting TS+ for this very feature and there is a lot of room for clientele when it comes to services like these.

2. Internet: The rumors have been doing the rounds since quite some time now. Big TV is giving out Internet trials on their STBs as well, and it can very well be anticipated that soon Internet on your STB will be a reality. Especially when it comes to players such as Tata, Big TV and Airtel who already have separate Internet services going on. It shouldn’t be that big a surprise if they incorporate Internet into their STBs as well in the near future.

3. Better Games: I remember someone suggesting an Xbox live type orifice inside STBs, so people can connect and play games with other DTH subscribers, and games that are of decent quality none the less! We at SaveOnDish have heard such plans being in development way too many times, and it is only a matter of time when we actually get this on our very own STBs.

4. Many other things: This list could go on and on and on for a long time. DTH companies are sure gearing up for the upcoming competition as well as taking steps to stay in business with the existing ones. It wouldn’t be much time until they have a host of new features knowing at your door… er… I mean TV screen.

So just sit back, relax and enjoy your STB as the new updates roll in!

Mr. Channel

Hey there visitors, SaveOnDish.com’s moderator and top contributor Mr. Roh_Style has posted a comprehensive comparison of all the existing DTH services in the market today. We at SaveOnDish hope that this official SaveOnDish comparison of DTH services will help you decide which DTH service to go for.

This review contains the advantages and disadvantages of each of the DTH services, point by point, and enables you to minutely observe the good and bad so that you may see through everything before actually taking the decision of buying a DTH system. So here goes!:

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DD DIRECT PLUS :

Advantages :

(1) DD Direct Plus is India’s first and only DTH service that offers its services absolutely free of cost. No monthly subscriptons to be paid when you are with DD Direct Plus.

(2) Small one-time initial investment on STB and Dish and you can use it life-long.

(3) Apart from all DD chs, DD Direct Plus offers several popular private FTA (Free-To-Air) chs.

(4) As a bonus, DD Direct Plus also offers additional chs, from Dish TV’s satellite which are FTA from time to time.

Disadvantages :

(1) DD Direct Plus does not offer any EPG Click here for reading the rest of this comparison

A user Gopal Krishnan posted this on the forums, I thought it would be good to post it on the main website:

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Many of you will be having this dilemma.

The barrage of advertisements wont do any good either.
You can go by your neighbour’s decision and feel safe or may be you can take your own decision.

I hope my experience will help.

Wanted to take DTH, because cable quality was pathetic and they kept wanting more money. Initially wanted to take dish TV since they have packages. But i found a lot of complaints in this forum regarding customer service. And Tata is a respected brand. Hence the dilemma.

1].But dishtv has been here for two years or so and naturally they might be having more user complaints. So i was not realy scared by that alone.

2].Visit a demo of both. That is very important.

3].The remote: I felt the the remote of tata is too bulky. This is one stuff that you are going to use continously. You dont want have a brick in your hand. Dish TV remote is very handy. [why cant they have a remote locator switch on the TV or set top box like for cordless phones? I keep misplacing the the remotes [now 5 of them!]

4] Interface: changing from one channel to another [which you will be doing every five minutes or so!] is rather clumsy in tata sky. one Big blue banner appears in which you can select and you have to push another button to let it dissappear. very annoying! [the dish blue banner dissappears on its own quickly although i still wish it was more subtle or if there was an option to hide it altogether] Also there is a disturbing bright blue screen which appears for a moment between channels, as they are changed, which is disturbing. [DishTV screen is black between channels like in many tvs and is better. Why cant they have channels that change instantly like in old tvs?] Also i like the way you can arrange favourite channels. [may be there in sky TV, i dont know]

5]picture quality is the same in both. nothing to select there.

6] you have to pay for the wire from your terrace to TV for dishTV[ Rs 10 for every meter and you have to pay around 150] relocation fee for tata is 1000. less for dish.

7] Sun TV channels are available only in dish as of now.

8] packages are available only in dish as of now. I took maxi [everything for 300 a month] Six months free in dish and three in tata.

I selected Dish TV they installed within 24 hours and i had no problems till now. [1 month now]. Havent had the oppurtunity to call in their customer service. so i cant tell you anything about that. Hope it remians that way!

i went for dish because of the remote and the way you change and select channels which were more user friendly.

Please do see both at a demo or better at a house where it is installed and try changing channels and go through the menu etc and decide for yourself which is user friendly. Costs are almost the same and hope they come down. They will, once Reliance comes in!

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Thank you Gopal for such a wonderful guide!

Mr. Channel

SaveOnDish.com launches Discussion forums at www.saveondish.com/forum/ for all its visitors, you can now go to the forums and talk about Tata Sky, Dish TV, Reliance BlueMagic, Bharti Airtel and all other DTH networks in India.

You can use the forum for:

• Registering your complaints against DTH Networks
• Voicing out your consumer opinion
• Giving your highly valued opinion on the DTH service you use
• Helping others in need
• Reading tips, tricks, get arounds etc. like catching FTA channels on your STB, downloading games on your device and more.
• Reading guides posted by members
• Get Customer support

We have initiated talks with the customer support of Tata Sky and DishTV and their customer support officials will be regularly coming to the forums to answer your questions and queries if you post them in the forum, they will also offer you online customer support!

Following are the links to the categories inside the forum:

• Tata Sky Forum
• Dish TV Forum
• Reliance Blue Magic Forum
• Bharti Airtel Forum

All you need to do to post is to register here

So if you have any complaint against your Dish Provider, have a suggestion for them, need customer support from Dish TV or Tata Sky or just want to give your consumer opinion on your DTH provider, just go the forum and do it!

I received this Rant as a comment, but I felt it deserves to be a seperate article.

This is NOT my article, it was written by Nanur of Kolkata about the poor service and signal quality he received from Tata Sky staff in Kolkata

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TATASKY AND THE DTH GO TO HELLLLL
Nanur, Kolkata

They have totally cheated us here in CAS affected Kolkata at least.I (a resident of CAS affected locality in KOLKATA) bought two tatasky digicomps(as part of my multiroom service) on the 28th DEC 2006 and was told that it would be installed the next day AND YOU KNOW WHAT ? It took them over 10 days to install it (after repeated reminders amounting to over 30 phone calls to their helpline numbers which are NOT toll-free).

For most of my neighbours, who ironically bought the service, have a similar harrowing story to tell. (for many of them, it took nearly 15 days to installthe dish antenna and others..) The picture quality of a number of the channels (esp. ZEE group of channels and also HBO) leaves a lot to be desired.The picture quality of ALL the ZEE channels and HBO are of poor quality VCD.

After comparing with the quality offered by our local cable operator’s set-top box I can definitely state that the quality of these channels are far better in my neighbours set-top boxes. And STEREO SOUND ???

I have fitted the logitech THX certified speakers to the digicomps and even tried the old and faithful headphones. Only ’star movies’ offers somewhat good quality stereo sound. For the rest, I can say the sound quality is no doubt stereo,but clarity is not so superior as claimed -mainly ’FM quality’.

And after it all, I found that I am not able to watch the Ind-W.Indies cricket matches- just because all on a sudden NEO-SPORTS disappeared from their network. On the 21st January 2007,the day of the ind-W.Indies first one-dayer we tried contacting the helpline at least 20 times, but nobody responded.

My local cable operator CAS based set top box delivers better picture quality of most of the channels, not to mention that all my neighbours are able to view all the cricket matches (NEO-SPORTS is available there).

Moreover there are no good english movies/music channels (Hallmark, Zee MGM, B4U etc) and no foreign language channels in the so called ’superior technology’ DTH service- all of which are available in my neighbours set-top box of the local cable operator- all at a much cheaper rate too. I have heard that Hallmark was available about 4 months back but suddenly disappeared from their network.

A large majority of the 100+ channels which TATASKY show us are the regional language channels which are mostly free to air I do not think that I require so many channels of other states.

The same applies to people in other states too-say a person in Gujrat-shall he require so many Tamil/Kannada/Oriya etc channels ? In this respect I am to state that here in Kolkata, our local cable operator offers 9 bengali channels; Tatasky offers only five.

In order to hide so many deficiencies, Tatasky is advertising so much about the so called ’active sports/active news’ and the absolutely nonsense ’showcase’.

WHAT IS THE USE OF ’ACTIVE SPORTS’ IF , DESPITE PAYING THE PREMIUM, YOU ARE NOT ABLE TO VIEW THE POPULAR SPORTING EVENTS BEING HELD IN OUR OWN COUNTRY – TAKE FOR EXAMPLE THE INDIA-WEST INDIES SERIES? Going by their service, I would not be surprised that by the time the WORLD CUP arrives, ESPN-STAR SPORTS too all on a sudden disappears from their network.

Moreover would a subscriber pay 300 bucks per month for only entertaining their children with the video games provided in the package ? And about their showcase ??!!? It is simply an advertising gimmick- how many people would, I wonder spend Rs.75/- to see a movie JUST FOR ONE DAY and that too only a few restricted hindi movies, no English?!?

In this respect I can compare Tatasky parallel to a mobile service operator who advertises a lot about the ringtones they offer, but is mum about the coverage area.

For an average customer what matters is the quantity and quality of channels which the provider should give. For quality, tatasky is satisfactory, but for quantity— too much overpriced.

I therefore feel that in CAS areas like us in kolkata, the public must stick to their faithful old cable operator, instead of jumping to the traps of DTH cheats like TATASKY ( which inspite of the ’towering advertisements- claiming to be superior to the cablewallahs’ are simply tall talks ) – who I feel, should be dragged to the consumers courts.

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4 Responses to “ A Tata Sky Rant (Kolkata) ”

Comments:

1. Dimu says:
   January 28th, 2007 at 3:53 pm Well my experience in email support is great. They normally reply within 24 hours.
   Also Neo Sports is back on air now.
   ESPN or Star Sports won’t dissapear from Tata Sky as they belong to Star network & they are the Co- Partners of Tata Sky
2. Mr. Channel says:
   January 28th, 2007 at 3:59 pm Hmm I wonder why Star Movies is missing from Tata Sky? When the Star Network is a partner, they should provide all the channels, right?
3. Atul Kumar Rohatgi says:
   February 1st, 2007 at 10:50 pm My experience with TATASKY was not so great. After installation on 10 Jan, the digicom became defective on 25th.(1-238860649 comp no.)
   This could not be repaired till 30Jan evening, inspite of several reminders and telephone calls when i decided to to go back to cable TV.
   Now i am waiting for refunds.
   Not what i may call exciting
4. Mr. Channel says:
   February 4th, 2007 at 8:36 am Thats sad to know Atul, really…

   There is a huge contrast in the customer service offered by Tata… all over the country.

   Where are you from? and if you could elaborate further that’d help more.