(7 September 2009 8:30 pm)

MUMBAI: Sun Direct has crossed a subscriber base of four million, the fastest DTH operator to achieve this milestone in less than two years.

Backed by predatory pricing, regional content mix and a heavy inflow of subscribers from the southern region, the Sun Group company has stormed the market with huge volume gains.

Earlier, Tata Sky, the second oldest private DTH operator in the Indian market, had announced that it had crossed four million subscribers this August. Dish TV has a subscriber base of 5.7 million.

Says Sun Direct COO Tony D’Silva, “From the beginning we had clear plans on the value we will offer to our customers; our ‘Think Regional: Go National’ strategy helped shape our approach in different markets. Today we have achieved a pan India customer base and have established a strong brand presence for Sun Direct as a national player.”

Kalanithi Maran-promoted Sun Direct is targeting a revenue of Rs 10 billion for FY'10 even as it plans to double its subscriber base to six million.

"Sun Direct is growing at a mind-boggling speed. With low ARPUs, it is mopping up cable TV subscribers in pockets of the country," says a senior executive of a rival DTH platform.

The DTH sector is seeing rapid growth in India. All the DTH operators in the country have crossed the one million mark, including Airtel Digital TV, the fifth and last to launch the service.

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