The Hindu Business Line : ‘Digital television platforms gaining ground’

Pune, March 25 Cable television might take a back seat with digital television platforms such as Direct-to-Home (DTH) and Internet Protocol Television (IPTV) gaining ground. According to a study conducted by the Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India (Assocham), over 28 per cent of an estimated 10-crore cable-television households would migrate to platforms such as DTH and IPTV by 2010.

Players like Tata and Zee have already started testing the waters and many more corporate houses such as Reliance and Bharti are also set to launch their services in the domestic market.

Mr David Godfrey, Director (Operations), NDS, Asia Pacific, told Business Line there is massive growth happening in the DTH sector with the launch of new platforms offering attractive services to the television consumer. He said that mobile TV and IPTV are in their infancy and offer a different set of issues. “The Indian market has the right mechanics for multiple methods of delivery, including digital media such as broadband and mobile. However, the infrastructure is immature when compared to the coverage of DTH and cable in terms of sheer volume, plus the capacity required. This is particularly so with mobile TV where delivery, standardisation and enabling technologies are yet to be made available.”

When asked if the Indian market was ready for such technology and gadgets, Mr David said that the Indian market is a major consumer of television already. He said NDS XTV DVR, soon to be launched by Hathway, would allow consumers to take control of their television viewing experience — pausing live TV, recording live programs to disk, rewinding, fast forwarding and much more. NDS has made investments in R&D in India over the past eight years and has about 850 staff in its Bangalore research centre, Mumbai office and New Delhi centre. The Bangalore development centre would continue to develop new solutions, specifically tailored for the unique Indian pay TV environment. Commenting on the developed market acceptance, he said NDS would not try to make any separation in terms developed and under developed markets. “Certainly in terms of the consumption of content in the home, India is a huge market with its own huge content industry. Content is still the main driver for digital pay television, irrelevant of the delivery media or type of device that it is viewed on. Other countries in other regions have operators looking at such services, again with the exception of DTH and cable, they are still in their infancy in many markets,” he said.

He said there are markets that have high broadband penetration and are pursuing wider band mobile networks for mobile services other than just voice.

In these markets, there are successful operators running a pay television business. However, it is not the technology being used to deliver the content that dictates development and as such is not a measure of how markets have adopted services. “The driver is the content, and the way the content is delivered in terms of look, feel, navigation, interaction and enhancement. along with the quality of service and value for money that it represents for the consumer,” he added.

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