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Shobha Kannan

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Kolkata, May 17 You can now catch up on your favourite ‘saas-bahu’ serial or a movie of your choice while travelling in a train or bus.

This is what Dish TV promises with its mobile direct-to-home (DTH) service on trains and buses.

The company has received permission from Indian Railways to conduct a test run on some bogies of the Northern Railway. “Based on our presentations made to the Indian Railways, we have been given permission to conduct a trial run on their test bogies on the Northern Railway,” Mr Samir Juneja, Dish TV Head, mobile DTH, said.

The first phase of the trial run is expected within two weeks, Mr Juneja told Business Line. Once the test run is completed successfully, the service will be formally launched initially on luxury tourist trains. “We are hopeful of launching the service in tourist trains such as the Palace on Wheels in the next three-to-six months,” he said.

In the second phase, Dish TV will look at trains such as Shatabdi and Rajdhani, as also the first-class coaches of other passenger trains. “We are ready with the technology and the equipment. Now we are just waiting to hear from the operators,” he said.

Dish TV has tied up with Kingfisher Airlines to provide 16 live channels in 20 aircraft. Negotiations with Ashok Leyland to install DTH on intra-city buses are at an advanced stage. Ashok Leyland has 1,000-1,500 intra-city buses, which could beam this service, Mr Juneja said.

The company is also in talks with operators such as Raj Travels and Hyderabad-based Kesineni Travels for DTH installation on their buses, Mr Juneja said.

He added that the market was price sensitive, with the initial investment on each bus at around Rs 1.5 lakh, which will be borne by the bus operators.

The launch of mobile DTH may not make much commercial sense for Dish TV in the beginning, Mr Juneja said. “This is more of a branding or awareness-building exercise for us, as we will not be able to get a very high margin on the equipment or charge a high subscription,” he added. However, he was hopeful of commercial benefits in the next five years.

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