The weakening rupee has forced direct-to-home (DTH) service providers to raise prices of set-top-boxes, as a majority of them depend on imports.
This comes at a time when TV digitisation is on full steam and DTH players are competing to grab subscribers.
While the market leader Dish TV said it will raise prices of its set-top boxes by Rs 250, others including Tata Sky, Airtel digital TV and Videocon d2h are also looking to increase prices.
Effective Thursday, Dish TV’s standard definition set-top box, which was priced at Rs 1,999 will now cost Rs 2,249. Its Dish + recorder will cost Rs 2,349. The company has kept the price of its high-definition set-top boxes unchanged.
Rival Tata Sky, too, will be increasing prices. Harit Nagpal, CEO and MD, Tata Sky, said, “As Tata Sky imports its set-top boxes from the international market, changes in currency rates do impact price of the hardware. New customers will now get a Tata Sky connection at a marginal 8-10 per cent increase, owing to the falling exchange rate of the rupee.”
Even a player such as Videocon d2h, which manufactures its own boxes domestically said it is not insulated from the adverse impact of the currency fluctuations. Anil Khera, CEO, Videocon d2H, said, “DTH industry has from time to time been forced to raise prices of set-top boxes to adjust for resultant cost inflation. On account of imported components, even domestic manufacturers are not insulated from such currency changes. The further depreciation of 8-10 per cent in rupee is a cause for concern and we are studying the impact of the same.”
DTH service providers offer set-top boxes to consumers at subsidised rates. This coupled with content costs, taxes and license fees has got the industry reeling under losses. According to TRAI, there are an estimated 54.52 million DTH subscribers in India as of December end.
PwC India Entertainment and Media Practice Leader Smita Jha said that the recent increase in demand of set-top boxes due to the ongoing digitisation has helped DTH service providers to negotiate their contracts better for importing boxes.