The Hindu Business Line : TVS-E signs up with Siti to supply set-top boxes

TVS Electronics Ltd on Thursday launched its direct-to-home (DTH) set-top-boxes (STB). It has signed up with Siti Cable Network, part of Zee Network, as its first customer.

The "Made in India" DTH STBs are manufactured at the company's newly commissioned manufacturing line in Chennai, said Mr Gopal Srinivasan, Director, TVS-E. The company hopes to sell about 75,000 STBs in the next five months, which would fetch a revenue of Rs 20 crore, he said.

TVS-E, the Chennai-based manufacturer of computer peripherals, has invested about Rs 4 crore in the new "automated high volume" manufacturing line, which could produce about 50,000 STBs a month, he said.

TVS-E would tie up with multi-system operators to supply the boxes. The cost of a Siti Cable STB would be about Rs 7,000, including installation charges, Mr Srinivasan told reporters.

With an installed base of 80 million television sets, of which 48 million households have cable access, India offers huge potential for STBs. Even a 5 per cent conversion in 2004-05 would mean about four million households would have STBs, said Mr M. Ramesh, Programme Manager, TVS-E. The STB provides video and audio qualities on par with a good DVD (digital versatile disc), he said.

According to Mr Srinivasan, the inverted tariff structure of 20 per cent import duty and zero per cent excise duty for full import as against full import duty and 16 per cent excise duty on the import of parts is a deterrent for local manufacturing. If these issues are sorted out, TVS-E expects a steep increase in local manufacturing, he said.

The STB is a convergence (it can enable digital content, television and Internet) device, and should be treated as an information technology product. About 60 per cent of the components inside a STB are imported, he said.

Our New Delhi Bureau adds: Mr Jawahar Goel, Vice-Chairman, Zee Network, added, "We have been importing and selling 15,000 STB units per month and we now intend switching over to locally manufactured STBs by the end of September."

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