Dish TV to offer basic channel tier for free

Dish TV to offer basic channel tier for free

Dish TV, India’s top direct-to-home (DTH) company, is replicating the ‘lifetime card’ concept in the telecom sector as it looks to garner more subscribers in the ongoing push to cable TV digitisation in the country. The company is offering a basic channel tier comprising 70 channels free of cost for life. Subscribers will have to do a minimum recharge of its regular package twice a year to avail the facility. The new ‘Go Digital’ with lifetime free TV, company officials said, will enable consumers to digitise with the Dish TV DTH experience and minimise the fear of approaching digitisation. R C Venkateish, chief executive officer, Dish TV, said consumers in the four metros are apprehensive of sudden switch-off of TV viewing. “This offering will translate into a huge competitive advantage for Dish TV as none of the other competitors both from cable as well as DTH offer this facility. Cable operators have announced a `100 monthly charge for the basic tier, which will be provided free of cost by Dish TV,” he said. The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India had recommended that all cable multi-system operators to provide subscribers a basic tier priced at `100 per month. Salil Kapoor, chief operating officer, Dish TV, said television viewing is ubiquitous and one of the most affordable means of entertainment in the country. “For subscribers ‘switch-off’ of the services or their TV going blank suddenly cuts off their information and entertainment lifeline. Dish TV is now ensuring that this lifeline never gets cut off for their valued subscribers. Our endeavour is to provide highly differentiated competitive advantage over cable and other DTH,” he said. In August this year, Dish TV launched a new set-top-box (STB) for the standard definition (SD) subscribers in the country. Called ‘Dish’, it is India’s first SD box with unlimited recording facility. The STB is compatible with any USB device enabling consumers to plug-n-play an existing USB stick / HDD and build an entire genre-based library of their favourite programme. Dish TV has on its platform 400-plus channels and services including 21 audio channels, and a growing subscriber base of 13.5 million.