MUMBAI: After Zee Tele, Broadband Pacenet becomes the next Indian company to apply for a HITS license.
Multi-system operator (MSO) Broadband Pacenet India (BPI) which recently launched sophisticated indigenous set top boxes that include features like peoplemeters and ethernet output to enable Internet surfing, has asked for three transponders on the Insat 3 C satellite, with an option open for two more transponders. 
According to Broadband Pacenet India CEO S Ravindran, the company is aiming to become 'primarily a HITS player' in India. For ZTL, which has thus far been the only player in the arena, this spells serious competition. Ravindran was speaking on the sidelines of the National CAS Media Summit, organised by Indiantelevision.com in Mumbai on Friday.
To be implemented by the company's cable arm Siti Cable, the Subhash Chandra-promoted Zee Telefilms, Rs 4,000 million have already been invested by the various Chandra companies in the HITS and DTH facility, Zee is also actively proposing to offer dealers (cable ops) up to 40 per cent of the distribution margin as an incentive.
BPI meanwhile is the new entrant that could could give Zee some real competition. It is already forged an alliance with a consortium of 12 international promoters who are in the process of launching a smart card based payment mode for cable consumers and others who wish to avail of the service. 
BPI is promoted by veterans of the cable trade - Jagjit Singh Kohli (chairman of BPI and director of ETC Networks) and S Ravindran (BPI CEO).