Smaller Cities are DTH Targets

Written for magazine Cable Quest

The battleground for DTH companies is soon expected to shift to semi-urban and rural India. The company is working in cost-effective subscription packages to woo consumers in smaller towns. Ajai Puri, the CEO of Bharti Airtel DTH said the company will leverage synergies with the firm's telecom business.

DTH player Tata Sky has seen demand from smaller cities grow after the introduction of its electronic programming guide (EPG)in Hindi, its Chief Marketing Officer Vikram Mehra said. EPG helps a DTH subscriber navigate between various channels and access value-added services. India has about 130 million television homes, out of which 90 million homes have access to satellite cable. DTH is expected to touch 45 million user mark in the next 2-3 years from the current user base of 13 million.