INSAT-4CR: Boon For DTH

The long awaited DTH services by many leading communication
players, who are entering the broadcasting arena, would see the light of day
with the launch of INSAT-4CR by ISRO.

Earlier, the broadcasting industry was furious when it realized
that the ISRO does not have a solution for their transponder worries. Having
faced shortage of transponder that affected their plans, DTH providers such as
Reliance's Blue Magic, Bharti, Doordarshan's DD Direct+, Videocon and Sun TV's
Sun Direct will be satisfied with the INSAT-4CR launch becoming a reality.
Through this, DTH providers will be looking at acquiring many available 24
Ku-band transponders.

Fulfilling Demands

New DTH players require 7-10 transponders each. Each transponder is capable
of offering 15-30 channels, depending on its frequency capacity. There are two
satellites, INSAT-4A and SES Global's NSS-6, with an all India footprint
capable of offering the Ku-band required for DTH services. However, TataSky,
DishTV and DD Direct, who joined the DTH bandwagon earlier, have used these two
satellites, and new players were forced to look for alternatives.

Sun Direct, Bharti Telemedia and Reliance's DTH venture
Reliance Bluemagic may unveil their DTH services within the next 6-12 months,
targeting one of the leading cable TV markets.

With the entry of new players, the DTH market will see more
action and the present unhappy customers will receive a bouquet of new services.
The competition is rife between two leading players-DishTV and Tata Sky. Tata
Sky, which celebrated the one million subscribers mark in 12-months, is
targeting to cross the 8 mn mark in the next five years.

Is it Enough?

The growth rate in the DTH subscriber base in India is likely to increase
thanks to the increase in TVs and cable in households. The growing multiple TV
households, which would form a large percentage of the total subscriber base, is
also adding fuel to the surge. Satellite operators and programmers world-wide
have already set their eyes on the world's largest open market for DTH
satellite TV services. If new players are planning to enter the market, the
present transponder capacity may not fulfill the future needs.

ISRO has established two major space systems, INSAT for
communication, television broadcasting and meteorological services, and Indian
Remote Sensing Satellites (IRS) system for resources monitoring and management.
INSAT is the largest domestic communication satellite system in the Asia Pacific
region.

INSAT-4CR is the third satellite in the INSAT-4 series from the
ISRO. The first two, INSAT-4A and INSAT-4B were launched in December 2005 and
March 2006, respectively. The 2,130 kg INSAT-4CR is designed to offer DTH
services, digital satellite news gathering, serve other users for VSAT and other
high bit rate data transmissions. It has been built within a period of one year
to replace an identical satellite, INSAT-4C that was lost due to the failure of
GSLV-F02 in June 2006.

Baburajan K

baburajank@cybermedia.co.in