Jio DTH & Airtel 'hybrid' reports gain currency

Jio DTH & Airtel 'hybrid' reports gain currency

MUMBAI: Although there is no confirmation, Reliance Jio seems to be gearing up to enter the DTH space in India this month after disrupting the telecom landscape.

Jio it seems may not be alone in the new business as Airtel too is reportedly looking to take on Jio's IPTV based DTH with its hybrid DTH STB service. The impact however will depend on the STB features.

After much speculation over a few weeks, this time some images of Jio set-top-box have surfaced -- exposing the box design. Some reports stated that Jio STB, powered through Jio broadband with up to 1 Gbps speed, would have a rounded design and an upgraded version of the available DTH boxes.

The leaked pictures the Jio STBs show a USB port at rear and front side. This presumably will help consumers to connect a pen drive and may be watch stored movies and videos directly -- without an internet connection.

This feature exists in smart TVs, but the earlier TV sets do not have it -- the market for Jio DTH.

The leaked images also show an RJ45 port that helps connect to Net and have movies, live streaming and listen to music online. The Jio box also seems to have an AV port, HDMI port, a 12-volt power port, and a cable port at the rear.

The Jio STB is expected to be based on Android and Jio will help outdoor customer premise equipment (CPE) connected to a Jio tower and attached to the STB. Jio is also preparing to give wiring via optical fibre cable, instead of CPE, in some areas.

Airtel's high-tech hybrid too reportedly works on the same principle. Airtel will use the fibre to home (FTTH) service to connect the STBs, allowing viewers to stream content online.