Dish TV to increase channel capacity

MUMBAI - Direct-to-home (DTH) service provider Dish TV Tuesday said it had signed a deal for additional transponders to enable it to increase its total transmission capacity and increase the number of channels on offer.

“The increased transponder capacity will enable Dish TV to increase its standard definition (SD) channel capacity to over 320 and high definition (HD) capacity to over 30 which will be substantially higher that any competing DTH operator in both HD and SD transmission,” the company said in a regulatory filing.

The company will increase its total transmission bandwidth capacity to 648 megahertz from the current 432 megahertz, it said.

According to the company, the substantial increase in capacity over competition is likely to be a game changer in the Indian DTH market.

“The addition of significant channel capacity in both HD and SD is expected to considerably enhance our offering to subscribers. We will be able to offer region specific content, enhanced value-added services, as well as substantially enhanced HD bouquet, driving growth of HD services,” managing director of Dish TV India Jawahar Goel said.

The company said the increase in capacity will enable it to tap into the high income group of subscribers in metros and major cities.

“We expect this to translate into significant gains in terms of average revenue per user as well as total revenue of the company. Apart from this, the total width of our bouquet in terms of number of channels will be 25-30 percent higher than any other DTH platform in the country, giving us significant advantage into the marketplace,” said R.C. Venkateish, chief executive officer of Dish TV India.