New Delhi, Oct 10: In what could be indicative of fierce competition in the direct-to-home (DTH) industry, Dish TV, the largest DTH services provider in India, on Wednesday announced a new package for customers under which it will offer 70 channels in the basic tier free to its subscribers in the four metros.
As per the guidelines of the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai), all cable multi system operators (MSOs) are offering the basic tier of channels for Rs. 100 per month.
As of now the scheme is for new subscribers, but the company has indicated that it will be soon announcing something on this lines for the existing Dish TV users as well.
"This is a highly differentiated and extremely consumer friendly move. Consumers in the four metros are apprehensive about this sudden switch off of their highly valued TV viewing. This will translate into huge competitive advantage for Dish TV as none of the other competitors both from cable as well as DTH offer this facility, moreover as stated above Cable operators have already announced a Rs 100 monthly charge for Basic tier, which will be provided free of cost by Dish TV,” said R.C. Venkateish, Chief Executive Officer, Dish TV.
"TV viewing is ubiquitous and most affordable means of entertainment in this country. For the subscribers 'switch off' of the services or their TV going blank suddenly cuts of their information and entertainment lifeline. Dish TV is now ensuring that this lifeline never gets cuts of for their valued subscribers. Our endeavor of never ending commitment to our consumers to provide highly differentiated competitive advantage over cable and other DTH making us the platform of choice," said Salil Kapoor, Chief Operating Officer, Dish TV.
Experts say the pricing policy adopted by the Dish TV, is sure to win a lot of customers in the first phase, but it may affect the already low ARPU (average revenue per user) levels of the DTH industry.
