Videocon scouts for foreign partner for DTH business

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Quote:Videocon Industries, one of the largest consumer durables company in India in terms of sales, is scouting for a foreign partner for its upcoming direct-to-home (DTH) business.

Televisionpoint.com had earlier reported that the company is investing close to Rs 1,000 crores into this venture through its media arm Bharat Business Channel Ltd (BBCL).

"DTH business will have a gestation period of three years to break even, but we are yet to finalise the modalities of the business, except that we will be using our extensive dealer network of 3,000 dealers across the country to distribute DTH." said Venugopal Dhoot, Chairman, Videocon Industries.

The DTH venture will be headed by Anil Khera, who was earlier heading the operations of the company's Sansui and Kelvinator brands. He was associated with the Sansui since its launch and was responsible for growing the brand to capture about 10 per cent market share in the fragmented convention screen colour television market.

The DTH will be known under the D2H brand, and is scheduled to test signals by the year-end. According to industry officials, the company already has a technology tie-up with Israeli firm Gilat Technology Networks, specially selected for its superior encryption technology. The company already manufactures analogue boxes and has a wide network of dealers which will be exploited for selling its DTH hardware.

At present, Information and Broadcasting Ministry does not allow exclusivity of content, and the DTH players will need to focus on pricing and distribution.

Videocon set-top boxes are also expected to be cheaper than the ones currently available in the market. Pricing will be an important strategy with Videocon across all its product lines.

Currently DTH services are provided by Subhash Chandra promoted Essel Group's Dish TV;, Tata Sky, a joint venture between Star TV and Tatas; and Sun Direct.

http://www.televisionpoint.com/news2008/...1211784426