| Consumers will have to invest Rs 3,000-3,500 on a dish
and set-top box (STB), said Kamath. But there is no hidden or monthly
bill for the service. "We are trying to give the people the best
of programmes at no cost. In many countries, DTH is a pay system,"
Kamath stressed.
The date of launch, however, is yet to be fixed. "The test
signals are on. A formal launch is expected to be announced after
the (state) elections," said DD Kendra Mumbai director Mukesh
Sharma.
DD's DTH service has channels from the news, music and vernacular
language genres. "Personally I feel a movie channel will add
strength to our platform," said Sharma.
AIR DTH service will be operating through the Prasar Bharati DTH
platform with uplinking facilities at Todapur, Delhi. Though there
is a provision for 20 radio channels, in the first phase 10 AIR
channels are being launched. These are AIR Hindi, Begali, Telugu,
Marathi, Tamil, Punjabi, Gujarati, Kannada, Vividh Bharti and north-east
services.
AIR currently produces news and programme content in 66 different
languages and dialects and broadcasts through its terrestrial network
of 215 stations. But terrestrial networks have the limitation of
the programmes being available only within the coverage areas of
the transmitters. The DTH service of AIR will make available to
listeners across the country the multi-lingual broadcasts originating
from different stations.
The TV and radio programmes can be received anywhere in the footprint
area of the satellite with a 60-90 cm dish, converter and STB. The
output of the STB is connected to a TV set. With a selection, the
TV can be used for either watching TV programme or listening to
radio programmes. During the radio programme, the screen is either
blank or gives a fixed picture display. The DTH service will operate
through satellite NSS-6, located at 95-degree east in the geo-stationary
orbit.
DD is distributing 10,000 DTH receiver systems in public institutions
like schools, panchayats and youth clubs across the country, said
Sharma. Out of these, about 1,100 systems are to be installed in
the north-east region.
|
