The Hindu Business Line : Tata Sky cuts hardware prices

New Delhi, Feb. 5 Tata Sky has halved the price of its hardware to reduce entry barriers for new customers, including those wanting to migrate from cable to DTH.

Its set-top boxes and other equipment will now cost Rs 1,499, with customers having to pay an additional Rs 1,000 for installation and subscription, which starts from Rs 200 per month.

With this move, winning over new customers should become easier for the company which achieved a 1.5-million connection milestone last month, particularly since customer acquisition is likely to become more difficult when Bharti, Reliance ADAG and Videocon launch their DTH services. “New players can come in whenever they want to,” said Mr Vikram Kaushik, Managing Director and CEO, Tata Sky, dismissing the argument.

“We have achieved significant economies of scale, and restructured our business, reduced operational overheads, and are passing on these benefits to our customers.” Mr Kaushik is also betting on two TV homes buying an additional connection, as well as NRI’s gifting the service to relatives in India.

According to Mr Kaushik, future marketing strategy will depend on competition. However, he added, “Price is only one side of it. Tata Sky has always concentrated on better programming and superior content. Most of the new channels, BBC Entertainment, NDTV Imagine or Neo Sports, have all premiered on our services. Apart from that we have also offered consumers high quality innovative interactive services. And more importantly, top quality customer service.”

Tata Sky will also introduce its high-end personal video recorder (PVR) which can pause live television, and record multiple programmes offering video-on-demand. The box available to Newscorp’s BSkyB, Direct TV and Sky Italia will be affordable, but is not cheap, admits Mr Kaushik.

More Stories on : Strategy | Radio/TV

Article E-Mail :: Comment :: Syndication :: Printer Friendly Page

Stories in this Section
Tata Sky cuts hardware prices

NComputing targets schools with virtual/shared PCs

Batra’s plans tie-up for hair cloning

IPL title sponsor bids likely to top Rs 150 cr

Brandhouse Retails draws big plan for luxury retailing

Phoenix Mills mulls stake in EWDPL

HUL mulls taking Lakme brand to Sri Lanka

Market ripe for premium products: Murjanis

Bose Corpn expanding India presence

Notebooks drive PC market in H1