Air Tel Launching DTH very soon

[cybertech_dth]

Joining the ranks of DTH (Direct-to-Home) providers - Tata Sky, Dish TV, and DD Direct, Bharti Airtel will also launch its DTH services by end this year, Chairman and Managing Director, Sunil Mittal, announced.

Mittal said they have already applied for DTH license, and expect to get it fairly soon. He said the company would subsequently start DTH operations, basis availability of transponder space on satellites with an Indian footprint.

Most likely, Bharti Airtel would get transponder space on the Insat 4CR satellite, scheduled for launch sometime in August or September this year. Also likely, the company would share space with the to-be-launched, Reliance 'Blue Magic' DTH service.

Bharti Airtel's DTH services would fall under its broadband vertical with just under 2 million connections.

Towards the proposed service, a subsidiary called Bharti Telemedia has already been floated. Besides, Bharti's manufacturing arm, Bharti Teletech, is currently into manufacture/import of set-top-boxes (STBs) under the brand name 'Betel' mainly for free-to-air (FTA) channels.

And, the hub needed for downlinking and de-encrypting channel feeds in DTH is likely coming up at Manesar in Haryana.

Mittal clarified that they would remain neutral as far as content goes, preferring content providers to approach them.

Apart from this, Mittal also announced that the company has invested over Rs 1,000 crores in Gujarat, and that it intends to expand both mobile and fixed line services in the state.

[sakthiman]

good news

[amatan]

How long are they going to tell the same?