Update on current market size of DTH &

Cable Television in India

Table of contents:

1.0. DTH (Direct-to-home) Industry

1.1. Introduction
1.2. Current Scenario of DTH in Indian Television Industry

2.0. Industry competitors: Segment rivalry

2.1. Advantage India

3.0. Porter’s Five Competitive forces: Direct to Home (DTH).

3.1. Buyers: Bargaining power of buyers
3.2. Suppliers: Bargaining power of suppliers
3.3. Potential Entrants: Threat of new entrants
3.4. Substitutes: Threat of substitutes
3.5. Industry competitors: Segment rivalry

4.0. Private Players: Direct –to –Home (DTH)

4.1. Statistics of seven DTH players in India
4.2. DD DIRECT (Doordarshan)
4.3. Dish TV India Ltd.
4.3.1. Competitive landscape
4.4. Tata Sky Ltd.
4.4.1. Competitive landscape
4.5. Sun Direct DTH
4.5.1. Competitive landscape
4.6. Big TV Reliance
4.6.1. Competitive landscape
4.7. Airtel digital TV
4.7.1. Competitive landscape
4.8. Videocon D2H (Bharat Business Channel Ltd
4.8.1. Competitive landscape

5.0. Few Statistics on the DTH Players in India

6.0. Cable TV Broadcast

6.1. Snapshot of Indian Cable Industry
6.1.1. Subscriber Statistics
6.1.2. Distribution network of the Cable TV system

7.0. List of Major MSO’s in India

7.1. Competitive Landscape: CATV (Cable television)

1. DTH (Direct-to-home) Industry

1.1. Introduction:

The direct-to-home (DTH) TV sector in India continues to expand rapidly, attracting large
investments from new and existing players over the past few months and is showing no signs of
slowing down due to economic recession. The DTH market began its commercial operations in
2003 has been able to acquire around 30Million subscribers during the past 7 years. The number
of DTH subscribers has nearly tripled in 2008 compared to the previous year, driven by the entry
of two new players.

1.2. Current Scenario of DTH in Indian Television Industry

DTH in India has gradually cemented its place strongly in the television industry. Being
considered as the fast growing industry, it is been ruled by seven major players namely,
Doordarshan India, Dish TV India Ltd., Tata Sky Ltd., Sun Direct DTH, Big TV Reliance, Bharti
Airtel DTH & Videocon D2H. These companies have their own way of promoting their brands
with respect to the customer needs. As of now, the market leader being Dish TV followed closely
by Sun Direct & Tata Sky and with other players also providing a stiff competition to the top
three players.

2.0. Industry competitors: Segment rivalry

 Presently as on 2010, these are the main DTH service providers in India:
 DD Direct – state owned free service provider
 Dish TV - owned by Essel Group, was the first commercial DTH service provider.
 TATA Sky – owned by TATA group, largest DTH service provider presently in India
 Sun Direct – owned by Sun group, primary focus is on low income groups and regional
viewers
 Reliance Big TV - Owned by Reliance group, new entrant into the market
 Airtel Digital TV – Owned by Bharti group, recent entry to the DTH market with
aggressive market strategies
 Videocon D2H – Owned by the Videocon Group of companies, latest entry to the DTH
market

2.1. Advantage India:

 Second fastest growing economy in the world

 Favorable FDI policies for all the segments of Media & Entertainment Industry
 Regulatory environment being strengthened for faster growth of the industry
 High quality of creative and technical talent pool
 Large untapped potential especially in television
 Indian consumers willing to spend more on entertainment
 Growing middle class with more disposable income
3.0. Porter’s Five Competitive forces: Direct to Home (DTH).

Porter’s model is based on the insight that a corporate strategy should meet the opportunities and
threats in the organization’s external environment. Especially, competitive strategy should be
based on an understanding of industry structures and the way they change. Porter has identified
five competitive forces that shape every industry and every market. These forces determine the
intensity of competition and hence the profitability and attractiveness of an industry.
Threat of New
Entrants: LOW
Seven major players
in DTH industry

Determinants of Buyer
Rivalry among power: High: -
Determinants of existing firms: Very Bargaining, More
High Price wars, options & Price
Supplier power: Very
litigations & Product Sensitive Buyers
High:- Transponder,
Content, CAS & CPE promoting
(LOW)

Threat of Substitute
products: Very High:-
Cable Television,
Internet Protocol
television & Terrestrial
Television

The Five Competitive Forces as applied to Direct to Home industry are described as follows:

3.1. Buyers: Bargaining power of buyers

With enough options to choose both from the point of alternate mediums like Cable, IPTV and
Terrestrial broadcast and from the point of increasing DTH operators, the consumer is at his will
to decide. Customers will continue to have a high bargaining power until DTH platforms try to
differentiate them as superior players with better content and clarity.

3.2. Suppliers: Bargaining power of suppliers

DTH industry relies on three major supplies:

Customer Premise Equipment (CPE): It includes satellite dish, Set Top Box with the necessary
Access card, the Ku band transponders in the orbiting satellites and content. With India
overtaking Japan as Asia’s largest DTH, the bargaining power of Indian DTH operators with CPE
supplies have increased. However, the availability of transponders is increasingly becoming
difficult. The Ku band transponder is generally provided by Astrix, the commercial wing of ISRO
either through its own satellites or by leasing transponders from suppliers. With only two
domestic satellite launches between 2007 and 2010 and increasing DTH players, Astrix is in a
better position to use DTH as its source of income for the next 5 to 10 years. In addition, the crash
of INSAT 4C and NSS-8 has worsened the situation of DTH players. As there is not much of
regulation particularly in terms of channel pricing, acquiring content from the broadcasters is also
difficult. DTH vendors are at the mercy of the broadcasters.

3.3. Potential Entrants: Threat of new entrants

With already seven players in the DTH space, threat of new entrants is relatively low. There is
already enough competition, which will discourage new firms to enter this business. While
getting a license is relatively easy, the barriers to entry are high when it comes to pricing of CPE
and getting the required transponders.

3.4. Substitutes: Threat of substitutes

DTH faces stiff competition from the terrestrial, cable and IPTV. As per the industry estimates,
there are 130 million TV homes of which 85 million are served by cable and around 30million by
DTH with the remaining taken by terrestrial transmission.

3.5. Industry competitors: Segment rivalry

 Presently as on 2010, these are the main DTH service providers in India:
 DD Direct – state owned free service provider
 Dish TV - owned by Essel Group, was the first commercial DTH service provider.
 TATA Sky – owned by TATA group, largest DTH service provider presently in India
 Sun Direct – owned by Sun group, primary focus is on low income groups and regional
viewers
 Reliance Big TV - Owned by Reliance group, new entrant into the market
 Airtel Digital TV – Owned by Bharti group, recent entry to the DTH market with
aggressive market strategies
 Videocon D2H – Owned by the Videocon Group of companies, latest entry to the DTH
market

4.0. Private Players: Direct –to –Home (DTH)

4.1. Statistics of seven DTH players in India

4.2. DD DIRECT (Doordarshan):

Doordarshan is the public television broadcaster of India and a division of Prasar Bharati, a public
service broadcaster nominated by the Government of India. It is one of the largest broadcasting
organizations in the world in terms of the infrastructure of studios and transmitters. Recently, it
has also started Digital Terrestrial Transmitters. On September 15 2009, Doordarshan celebrated
its 50th anniversary. Doordarshan had a modest beginning with the experimental telecast starting
in Delhi on 15 September 1959 with a small transmitter and a makeshift studio.

The regular daily transmission started in 1965 as a part of All India Radio. The television service
was extended to Bombay (now Mumbai) and Amritsar in 1972. Until 1975, seven Indian cities
had television service and Doordarshan remained the only television channel in India. Television
services were separated from radio in 1976. Each office of All India Radio and Doordarshan were
placed under the management of two separate Director Generals in New Delhi. Finally,
Doordarshan as a National Broadcaster came into existence.

National telecasts were introduced in 1982. In the same year, then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi
introduced color TV in the Indian market with the live telecast of the Independence Day speech
on 15 August 1982, followed by the 1982 Asian Games being held in Delhi. Now more than 90
percent of the Indian population can receive Doordarshan (DD National) programmes through a
network of nearly 1400 terrestrial transmitters and about 46 Doordarshan studios produce TV
programs today.

DD Direct+ is a free Direct to Home (DTH) service that provides satellite television and audio
programming to households and businesses in the Indian subcontinent. Owned by parent
company Doordarshan, DD Direct Plus was launched on December 16, 2004. Now chairman of
DD plus+ is Shri Arun Bhatnagar and CEO is B S Lalli under the ministry of information and
broadcasting.

Changes in Doordarshan: The government of India and Prasar Bharti in general has realized the
importance of TV channels and has improved the quality of programs and doordarshan is in the
process of transforming itself as multi channel provider. Currently Doordarshan offers 19
channels in various languages. However, inspite of its best effort Doordarshan is struggling to
regain its old glory.

Changes in DD Direct+: DD Direct+ is free DTH service and offers 51 TV channels and 24
radio channels. DD direct+ mostly offers channels of Doordarshan. However, DD Direct+ is also
interested in commercializing the operations, if it happen and if DD Direct+ is aggressive than it
will be a very serious threat to private DTH providers.

4.3. Dish TV India Ltd.

Dish TV is the first private DTH satellite television provider in India, using MPEG-2 digital
compression technology, transmitting using NSS Satellite at 95.0. Dish TV's managing director
and Head of Business is Jawahar Goel who is also the promoter of Essel Group and is the
President of Indian Broadcasting Foundation and Mr. Subhash Chandra is the Chairman of Dish
TV.

Dish TV is a division of Zee Network Enterprise (Essel Group Venture). EGV has national and
global presence with business interests in media programming, broadcasting & distribution,
specialty packaging and entertainment. Zee Network incorporated dishtv to modernize TV
viewing. By digitalizing Indian entertainment, this enterprise brought best television viewing
technology to the living room. It not only transmits high quality programmes through satellite but
also gives a complete control of selecting channels and paying.
DTH service was launched back in 2004 by launching of Dish TV by Essel Group's Enterprises.
Dish TV is on the same satellite where DD Direct+ is. Dish TV started its service in Pakistan with
the collaboration of Budget Communication. Dish TV was only DTH operator in India to carry
the two Turner channels, Turner Classic Movies and Boomerang. Both the channels were
removed from the platform due to unknown reasons in March 2009.

Dish TV uses NSS-6 to broadcast its programmes. European-based satellite provider, New Skies,
launched NSS-6 on 17 December 2002. Dish TV hopped on to NSS-6 from an INSAT satellite in
July 2004. The change in the Satellite was to increase the channel offering as NSS 6 offered more
transponder capacity.

4.3.1. Competitive landscape

 Have a subscriber base of 8 million as on August 27 2010

 Adds 1.5 million subscribers every year
 It has launched it HD services to make the market competition more energetic
 Dish TV has a market share of 53% with the promoter being Zee Group.
 Overall Pay Gross DTH market Share of Dish TV stands at 48% in 5 market operator
scenario
 More content - With 255 channels & Services, Dish TV offers the second maximum
number of channels in comparison to any other DTH service provider
 Distribution strengthened – Now present in over 6,600 towns through 55,000 dealers and
over 1400 distributors
 Issued shares on Right basis amounting to Rs. 1140 Crores
 For more information visit: http://www.dishtv.in

4.4. Tata Sky Ltd.

Tata Sky is a DTH satellite television provider in India, using MPEG-2 digital compression
technology, transmitting using INSAT 4A at 83.0°. Tata sky was incorporated in 2004.

Tata Sky is a JV between the TATA Group and STAR. Tata Sky DTH endeavors to offer Indian
viewers an excellent television viewing experience through its satellite television service. Vikram
Kaushik is present CEO of Tata Sky Ltd. The TATA Group is one of India's largest and most
respected business conglomerates. It comprises 93 operating companies in seven business sectors
and diversified group information systems and communications, engineering, materials, services,
energy, consumer products and chemicals.

The TATA Group has operations in more than 40 countries across six continents and its
companies export products and services to 140 nations. The Group and its enterprises have been
steadfast and distinctive in its adherence to business ethics and their commitment to corporate
social responsibility. This legacy has earned the Group the trust of many millions of stakeholders
in measure few business houses anywhere in the world can match.

The SKY brand, owned by the UK-based British Sky Broadcasting Group, brings to Tata Sky the
reputation of more than 20 years experience of satellite broadcasting. SKY is well known for the
innovative products and services launched by BSky, such as DTH broadcasting in 1989, digital
satellite broadcasting in 1998, interactive television services in 1999 and the SKY+ personal
video recorder in 2001. Tata Sky joins an international group of DTH businesses that includes
platforms as far apart as the UK and Italy in Europe, and Mexico and Brazil in Latin America.
Tata Sky Ltd is the First Indian DTH provider to be awarded the ISO 27001:2005 accreditation,
the ultimate benchmark for information security. The assessment for the certification was
conducted by Intertek Systems Certification, the management systems registration business unit
of Intertek Group plc and is accredited by several internationally recognized accreditation bodies
worldwide.

In October 2008, Tata Sky announced launching of DVR service Tata Sky+ that allowed 45 hours
of recording in a MPEG-4 compatible Set Top Box. The remote is provided with playback control
keys and is being sold with special Offers for existing subscribers. An independent and voluntary
council of experts known as Super brands Council selected Tata Sky as a SUPER BRAND for the
year 2009-2010. It is the only Indian DTH to have won this distinction.

4.4.1. Competitive Landscape

 Tata Sky claims to have a count of over 5.5 million subscribers at its entity making it as
the third largest subscriber base in Indian DTH industry
 Subscriber base expected to increase 1 million each year to reach 8.0 million by 2011
 DTH business is expected to grow from Rs 0.19 billion in FY2007 to Rs 3.84 billion in
2011
 Tata Sky has a market share of 30% with promoter being Tata Sons & Star TV
 Likely to achieve EBITDA margins of 25% by 2011, from negative EBITDA margins in
FY2007 of Rs. 0.18 billion
 Funding over the next 4 years – Rs. 20 billion through a mix of debt and equity
 Break-even expected by FY2010-11
 Now present over 3500 towns and 35,000 retails windows to reach the customers
 For more information visit: http://www.tatasky.com/

4.5. Sun Direct DTH

Sun Direct is a DTH satellite television provider in India, using MPEG-4 digital compression
technology, transmitting using INSAT 4B at 93.5°E. It is the country's first MPEG 4 technology
DTH service provider. Sun Direct is a DTH Service in India headquartered in Chennai, Tamil
Nadu.

Sun direct recently had a minor blip due to the malfunction of its transponders in INSAT 4B
satellite which made them temporarily shift their satellite to continue their services. But they have
officially announced that Sun Direct have started their service in MEASAT 3 satellite at 91.5°E
with 6 transponders and also two transponders in INSAT 4B satellite

Sun Direct TV registered in February 16, 2005. However, the failed launch of INSAT 4C resulted
in a lack of transponders, delaying the launch. The service finally launched on December 2007
after availability of transponders from INSAT 4CR. Because of the lowest pricing of any DTH in
India Sun Direct spread rapidly all over the country. On December, Sun Direct was launched in
Mumbai and announced its pan India launch. By 2009, it became leading DTH provider with 3
million subscribers. This made it as a fourth largest DTH service provider of India.

In April 2009, Sun Direct officially launched its High-Definition service in India. Sun Direct uses
the latest MPEG-4 based technology to increase broadcast capacity.
Sun Direct provide next-generation services in fast-growing and emerging markets quickly and
efficiently. Sun Direct selected Oracle based on its convergent multi-service capabilities and
proven real-time scalability allowing it to consolidate billing operations, enables powerful new
service offerings and improves visibility into customer information across services.

4.5.1. Competitive Landscape

 Sun Direct currently have 6 million subscribers at its disposal making it as the second
largest DTH service provider in India
 Offering 200+ channels to the subscribers
 First DTH player to launch MPEG-4 technology and HDTV service
 First DTH service provider to achieve 3 million subscribers in approx 1 year
 Captured most of the south Indian market with its attractive offers
 Now Sun Direct is No.2 DTH service provider in India and in pole position to acquire the
top spot from Dish TV.
 For more information visit: http://www.sundirect.in/ , another website for HD:
http://www.sundirect.in/HD/

4.6. BIG TV RELIANCE

Reliance BIG TV is a DTH satellite television provider in India based in Navi Mumbai, using
MPEG-4 digital compression technology, transmitting using MEASAT-3 91.5°east. It is the fifth
DTH service launched in India. Reliance BIG TV limited is a part of Reliance Communications
Ltd., a subsidiary of Reliance Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group founded by the Late Dhirubhai
Ambani, the Indian business tycoon and owned by his son Anil Ambani.

BIG TV started operations from 19 August 2008 with the slogan "TV ho Tho BIG Ho" ("If you
have a TV, make it BIG"). It currently offers close to 200 channels and many interactive ones, 32
cinema halls (i.e. Pay Per View Cinema Channels) as well as many Radio channels. The company
plans to increase the number of channels in the near future to 400 and begin High Definition
(HD) broadcast. It is the first Pan-India DTH provider that uses MPEG-4 for broadcasting. There
are also plans to introduce services like i-Stock, i-News and other such interactive services in the
future.

Reliance BIG TV launched on August 19, 2008 with the sole aim of providing the consumer with
quality and enriched home entertainment service at value-driven pricing. Reliance BIG TV's
launch in August was probably the
Biggest roll-out in home entertainment ever and deployed the most advanced MPEG4 technology
that enabled them to deliver best quality digital audio-video to the consumer. It also got prepared
for the future when Hi-Definition TV will
be launched in India because only MPEG4 technology can support HD TV and not MPEG2
which is used by the earlier entrants in the DTH industry.

Reliance BIG TV's retailer network is spread across 100,000 outlets in 6,500 towns in India. This
was literally unheard of in the DTH industry. They had effectively out-stripped the competition
here. When it came to pricing – packaging, their introductory offer stood at Rs. 1,490/- with 3 to
6 months of free subscription. They also introduced 32 Pay-Per-View Movie Channels, the
highest by any DTH player.
4.6.1. Competitive Landscape

 BIG TV, achieved the 1 million subscriber mark, within 90 days of its launch
 This has helped BIG TV to capture the share of 15 per cent in just 3 months in the fast-
evolving Indian DTH sector with the promoter being Anil Dhirubhai Ambani group.
 Big TV is now present over 6000 towns and 100,000 retail windows to reach the
customers.
 Over 180 channels at its entity
 For more information visit: http://bigtv.co.in/index.htm

4.7. Airtel digital TV

Bharti Airtel Limited is the flagship company of Bharti Enterprises and is India’s largest
integrated and the first private telecom services provider with a footprint in all the 23 telecom
circles. Bharti, India's leading telecommunications company, the Airtel brand has played the role
of a major catalyst in India's reforms, contributing to its economic resurgence. Airtel since its
inception has been at the forefront of technology and has steered the course of the telecom sector
in the country with its excellent products and services.

Airtel Digital TV is a DTH (Direct to Home) service from Bharti Airtel. It uses MPEG-4 digital
compression with DVB-S2 technology, transmitting using INSAT 4CR 74°E Airtel digital
launched on 8 October 2008 with a 360-degree mega campaign 'Come Home to the Magic. Since
then it has launched 2 other campaigns: ‘Stars come home’ (March 2009) and ‘DTH Picture
Clarity (August 2009) has increased its channel base to 183+ channels.

Airtel digital TV is now amongst the fastest growing DTH brands in the country and is available
across 5000+ towns in India. It is also been ranked as the best DTH service by “Living Digital”
magazine. Airtel chief Sunil Mittal said that Airtel digital TV and other DTH players have a
bright future in Indian market as the people are getting more attracted towards DTH because of its
quality and affordability.

4.7.1. Competitive Landscape

 The DTH service of Airtel has a wide network of over 150 channels expanded in about
62 cities of India.
 It is the second PAN India DTH provider providing the MPEG-4 technology for
providing its customers with DVD picture quality and sounds & wide variety of channels
and programs.
 First DTH to start its service with DVB-S2 technology
 For more information visit: http://www.airtel.in/digitaltv

4.8. Videocon d2h (Bharat Business Channel Pvt. Ltd):

Videocon d2h is a DTH satellite television provider in India based in Mumbai, using MPEG-4
with DVB S2 digital compression technology. Videocon Leasing & Industrial Finance Limited
was incorporated on 4 September 1986 As Adhigam Trading Private Limited. In terms of the
necessary resolutions Passed under Sec. 21 of the Companies Act 1956, the name of the
Company was changed to Videocon Leasing & Industrial Finance Limited on 14 February 1991.
The Company received a fresh certificate of incorporation from the Registrar of Companies,
Gujarat at Ahmadabad on 14thFebruary, 1991.

Videocon d2h launched May 1, 2009. It came with a very good strategy for selling both of its
electronic products like TV’s, DVD’s along with the new set top box. This is offering direct to
TV without any set top box also. Only the antenna is enough, it also comes with a DVD that is
connected directly to the TV or antenna is connected to DVD, which gives a best quality of out
put.

4.8.1. Competitive Landscape

 Videocon has a subscriber base of 2 million at its disposal which according them a great
achievement within a short span of time with heavy rivalry in the DTH industry
 Videocon uses the latest technology DVB-S2, MPEG 4 Technology for DTH service.
 Manufactures set top boxes in India itself.
 Offering 266 channels, the most by any DTH service provider in India
 For more information visit: http://www.d2h.com

Videocon D2H has recently launched its services in 2009 so there is very little information
available on their DTH service

5.0. Few Statistics on the DTH Players in India

DTH Provider Channel Count Transponder Subscribers Market Share

Capacity of 36 (million) (%)
MHz
Dish TV India 255+ 12 8.0 40
Ltd.
Sun Direct 240+ 8 6.0 28.5
Tata Sky Ltd. 240+ 11 5.5 30
Big TV Reliance 230+ 8 4.1 15
Airtel Digital TV 200+ 7 3.8
Videocon D2H 266 6 2.0
Doordarshan 80 15
(DD Direct +)

A few information on USP market players

· First Mover advantage

Dish TV · Tied up with portals shaadi.com,
yatra.com,monster.com to provide these
Services to subscribers
· Large expansion plan in rural areas
Tata Sky · Riding the huge equity of TATA Brand
Sun Direct · Capitalized on good will in south
· Price warrior, Lowest installation and packages
Airtel Digital TV · Innovation in services
· High decibel Campaign
“On seeing the forecast of the DTH industry, this industry is in a good shape growing at a fast
pace. The important factor being the population, which makes it more easier work done in the
current scenario;

Now, companies around the world seeing India as a potential market are making themselves
power packed to get the most out it from the industries.

The interesting thing in Indian DTH industry is there are very less foreign entrants who had
established themselves fully into the industry segment. They can be numbered with on of them
is DEVISER. Therefore, with quality products, good customer service backup, and backend
support and more importantly with a reasonable cost the product will definitely reach to
extreme limits and will have happy smiles for the manufacturers".

6.0. Cable TV Broadcast:

Cable TV has its roots in the late seventies. Indian television viewers were looking for
entertainment options, apart from what state-owned broadcaster DD was offering.

The launch of Star TV and Zee TV further fuelled the spread of cable TV. In the first half of
1992, almost 4,500 households were being cabled up daily. That figure increased to 9,450 homes
daily in the second half of the year, according to a study conducted by market research firm -
Frank Small for Star TV: on how many homes could receive its service. (If one considers that
almost all Indian cable homes can receive Star TV because it shares the same platform as Zee TV
then the numbers would be a fair representation of the total number of C&S homes at that time
because Zee TV has almost 100% penetration in cable homes.)

From a mere 412,000 urban households in January 1992, the number of cable homes went up to
1.2 million by November 1992. The number of homes estimated in 1993 was 3.3 million
according to the Frank Small study. This is estimated to have gone up to 7.3 million by January
1994, according to one estimate. Frank Small once again surveyed the market in end-1994 and
the firm placed the number of cable & satellite homes at 11.8 million out of a total of 32.4 million
TV owning homes.

India has over 130 million homes with television sets, of which nearly 71 million have access to
cable TV. The overall Cable TV market is growing at a robust 8-10%.The cable TV industry
exploded in the early 1990s when the broadcast industry was liberalized, and saw the entry of
many foreign players like Rupert Murdoch's Star TV Network in 1991, MTV, and others. The
emergence and notification of the HDVSL (High definition video over subscriber line) standard
as a homegrown Indian digital cable standard is likely to open an era of interactivity on cable
networks.

6.1. Snapshot of Indian Cable Industry

The below statistics gives the insight view of the market status of the Indian Cable Industry:

 3rd Largest Cable TV Market Worldwide

  India Has More Cable TV Homes than All Europe Combined!
 Follows European Standards: Germany's PAL B/G Color System, 240 VAC
 Cable TV Growing At 9% to 12% Annually
 As of now 30,000 registered cable operators & 30,000 unregistered cable operators
 Over 3 million digital cable users inclusive of 1.3million CAS (Cabled Conditional
Access – Digital) customers
 Wide market for all levels of products ranging from SA-BARCO and GI to Chinese and
local brands
 Most CATV networks migrating to Fiber
 Indian cable networks typically provide 56 channels (550 MHz) to 106 channels (862
MHz) 1310 nm and 1550 nm Bi-Directional CATV fiber optic systems being deployed

6.1.1. Subscriber Statistics

Following statistics show the increase of subscriber until 2009

Year No of Households cabled

January 1992 412,000
November 1992 1.2 million
1993 3.3 million
January 1994 7.4 million
End- 1994 11.8 million
1995 15 million
1996 18 million
1999 22 million
2009 81 million

The subscriber base by the end of July 2010 has touched 85 million.

6.1.2. Distribution network of the Cable TV system

 Telecom Regulatory Authority (TRAI)

 Broadcaster
 Multi Service Operator (MSO)
 Local Cable Operator (LCO)
 Viewer

7.0. List of major MSO’s in India

1. Home Cable Entertainment India Pvt. Ltd.,

2. Indusind Media Communications Ltd.,
3. Wire & Wireless India Ltd.,
4. Hathway Cable & Datacom Pvt. Ltd.,
5. DEN Networks Ltd.,
6. Digicable Pvt. Ltd.,
 7. Arasu Cable Corporation Ltd., (A government of TamilNadu Enterprise)
8. Sumangali Cable Vision (SCV). A Subsidiary of SUN TV Network
9. IN- Cablenet a venture of Hinduja group

7.1. Competitive Landscape: CATV (Cable television)

1) Home Cable Entertainment India Pvt. Ltd.,

 Home Cable, one of the nation's most experienced cable service provider, has managed
cable television systems since 1991
 Home Cable operates cable systems that have an estimated market value of over Rs. 25
Crores
 An increased capacity of more than 400 channels (Currently 121 Channels) upgraded
from the previous 120 channels.
 Providing service of over 15 years in the Indian television market
 More Information can be obtained from http://www.homecableindia.com/main.php

2) IndusInd Media & Communications Ltd.,

 Only MSO to have an extensive owned pan-India fiber network

 Their estimate of homes passed on their network is 16.8 million homes with 6.5-7 million
homes connected.
 Over 1200 employees and 2,400 affiliated local cable operators—LCO typically services
the customer
 Around 0.5 million digital cable homes of IMCL across 12 cities
 Over 250 channels being telecasted through Digital cable and over 90 channels in analog
cable
 More Information can be obtained from http://www.indigital.co.in/abt/default.html.

3) Wire and Wireless (India) Ltd.,

 Wire and Wireless (India) Limited is a part of the Essel Group, which is amongst
India’s most prominent business houses with a diverse portfolio of assets in media,
packaging, entertainment, technology-enabled services, infrastructure development and
education.
 One of the India’s largest Multi System Operator (MSO) and first company in India to
launch Head end-in-the-Sky (HITS)
 With 73 analogue and 5 digital head ends
 Provides network to 10 million cable and satellite homes in 189 cities of India, 400
centre’s and 4000+ Franchises
 WWIL has been in the business of providing content through analog cable system from
the broadcaster to the Local Cable Operators (LCO’s) since inception
 Popularly known as SITI cable as it is marketed under the SITI brand Umbrella
 For more information visit: http://www.wwil.net/
 4) Hathway Cable & Datacom Pvt. Ltd.,

 One of the largest Cable TV services company in India since its establishment in 1995
 Hathway provides quality Cable TV services in thirteen cities across the nation.
 Hathway has 3 broad service areas: Digital Cable TV, Hathway Broadband Internet and
Entertainment ( Cine Channel (CCC))
 Over 150+ channels at its entity
 For more information visit: http://www.hathway.com/

5) DEN Networks Ltd.,

 Delhi-based company is now a leading cable television company with a pan-India

presence.
 Within a short span of 2 years, it has spread its reach to 1 crore households across 77
cities, mainly by buying out smaller cable TV operators
 The MPA Report 2009 estimates that its cable television services have reached
approximately 10 million homes and that they had 300,000 digital cable television
subscribers as of December 2008.
 In analog DEN delivers 100 channels, while the digital offering, Digitelly, comprises
over 180 channels and other value added and interactive services. DEN proposes to
migrate a significant majority of analog consumers to digital environment.
 For more information visit: http://dennetworks.com, http://www.digitelly.in/

6) Arasu Cable Corporation Pvt. Ltd.

 A government of Tamil Nadu undertaken

 Now the service is free (FTA) and they are planning to get 5million set top boxes in two
or three years.
 They have started their services in Thanjavur (Tamil Nadu) but yet to roll out their
services in other parts of Tamil Nadu.

7) (Sumangali (Sun) Cable Vision) a Sun TV group

 A part of Sun Network, India's largest media conglomerate with the reach of more than
95 million households in India
 Offering over 150 channels to its subscribers in Chennai and Coimbatore
 http://www.sunnetwork.org/scv/

Sun TV (India) launched in 1992 as the first private channel in South India. Today it has 20
television channels in the four South Indian languages - Kannada, Malayalam, Tamil and Telugu.
Channels of the Sun TV network are also available outside of India.

Not the only digital Option

The "digital technology" label, and with it the implicit promise of better choice and quality,
has helped sell countless electronic devices. DTH operators too had positioned their services
as a digital alternative to cable TV. However, in the last few years, cable operators too have
gone digital. Today, digital cable connections (16 million) outnumber DTH connections (13
million) in India, according to the Cable and Satellite Broadcasting Association of Asia.

“Cable television being one of the largest markets in the Indian television industry, It needs
more external sources in order to extract them and make use of it to the utmost limits. The
external source, are the system integrators, Electronics manufacturers Includes the equipment
manufacturers specialized for this industry), Suppliers and distributors.

The major player who supplies more number of measuring instruments to the CATV
companies is DEVISER. Deviser has a good product awareness created in the southern states
of India and in other parts of the country. However, due to the less competition for devisor the
LCO’s & MSO’s prefer their instruments. The foremost characteristic being the price
litigation, which no other manufacturer is willing to provide in the industry at this point of time

Now, people in India are open to new products this would be a good time for the new entrants
to establish themselves in the market with some good products challenging the main player
(DEVISER)”.

Finally, while concluding the above-described information it is clear that the DTH & Cable TV
industry in India is growing at a good pace with new implementations and innovations making
this market segment healthy and strong. In addition, the growth of the industry also partly
depends on the foreign investors and entrants (any respect).

A few things are assured in the Indian television industry even in the face of paradigm shifts. The
industry is likely to be characterized first by a period of fragmentation and then by an increasing
concentration of global consortia as unprofitable participants fold. What is clearer than ever is
that satellite TV is here to stay and will play role in bringing television to mass around the world.

THANK YOU

KARTHICK SEKAR
5 OCTOBER 2010