'Made in India' set-top boxes from Airtel

NEW DELHI: Airtel Digital TV, the DTH arm of telecom operator Bharti Airtel, has announced the launch of its first indigenously manufactured set-top-boxes in sync with the governments 'Make in India' initiative.

The set-top-boxes will be available in HD and soon all Airtel Digital TV’s set-top-boxes will be manufactured in India.

With this, Airtel Digital TV claims to become the latest corporate to join the government's Make in India initiative. The launch also provides the much needed impetus to build an ecosystem that will drive indigenous manufacturing of DTH set-top-boxes empowered with production capabilities as well as technical expertise within India.

Shashi Arora – CEO, DTH/Media, Bharti Airtel, said, “We are proud to partner with the Govt’s Make in India initiative and launch indigenous set-top-boxes made in the country. With this we aim to reduce our imports and thus help drive employment and growth within the country. In the long run, cost synergies will further help us extend more benefits to our customers. The launch also re-establishes our leadership in offering world class TV viewing experience with innovations such as these”.

Col. Rajyavardhan Rathore, Minister of State for Information and Broadcasting said, “It is great that Airtel Digital TV is aligning itself with our Make in India vision as this will certainly pedal the fast gaining momentum of the initiative further. We wish the company the very best as they step ahead towards transforming the DTH industry in India with this initiative”.

Conceptualized and designed in India, the HD set-top-boxes will be manufactured at the facility in Pune (Ranjangaon) and will match global technology standards to provide the best of experience to customers. The Airtel Digital TV HD+ set-top-box will offer Full HD 1080p support, MPEG-4 video with Dolby Digital Plus Surround Sound; 5X picture clarity; unlimited recording (via USB-drive); and USB-based Wi-Fi connectivity for On-demand, TV and Interactive Gaming.