[Satellite Today Web Exclusive – 6-10-08] Bharti Airtel, one of India’s largest telecommunications companies, wants to expand its business and is setting its sights on India’s burgeoning satellite pay-TV market.
Bharti Airtel already serves about 62 million cellular customers in India and plans to use that base and its well-known brand to launch direct-to-home (DTH) services before the end of 2008, said Atul Bindal, president of telemedia services at Bharti Airtel.
“We believe that we have an immense opportunity in the booming Indian DTH market,” Bindal said. “After all, today, India is the third largest cable and satellite market in the world. The changes in consumption habits, coupled with regulatory pressures, have propelled it to start migrating to digital platforms with a measure of success.”
Bindal, spoke about the telco’s plans in the satellite arena.
Via Satellite: How do you view the market opportunity for Bharti Telemedia in the DTH market in India?
Bindal: We believe that we have an immense opportunity in the booming Indian DTH market. After all, today, India is the third largest cable and satellite market in the world. The changes in consumption habits, coupled with regulatory pressures, have propelled it to start migrating to digital platforms with a measure of success. In direct-to-home broadcasting there are three operators — one public sector and two private sector players. There are an estimated 4.5 million DTH subscribers among the two private sector operators — a number which has doubled in the last year. This phenomenal growth has been driven by regulatory requirements and consumer demands for higher quality of TV picture and sound and better, more transparent service. It is expected that by 2010, 16 percent of an estimated 100 million conditional access system households will migrate to DTH television platforms.
Via Satellite: What are Bharti’s plans in this area?
Bindal: In the current market scenario, pay-per-view and interactive content are the only two content differentiators possible in DTH, and this is where Airtel will seek to leverage its competitive strength of customer experience. This is what Airtel stands for and delivers. It is because of this differentiation that Airtel has been able to progress and grow across segments, and it is this which will lead our growth in DTH.
Via Satellite: What levels of growth in the subscriber base are you looking for throughout the next 12 months?
Bindal: We will aim to acquire a dominant share of the new DTH subscriber growth of 5 million expected next year.
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