[Satellite News 02-02-11] The Indian DTH market is set to see explosive growth over the next two years, with potentially another 20 million subscribers being added by the end of 2013, according to a report issued Feb. 2 by Indian research firm RNCOS.
    “Indian DTH Market Forecast to 2012” predicts that the region could see more than 35 million subscribers in the next two years, which may sustain a considerable growth phase for Indian DTH operators.
    Satellite pay-TV operators are beginning to erode the dominance of cable operators within the country, as both Tata Sky and DishTV have launched DTH services in India within the past 12 months. RNCOS CEO Shushmul Maheshwari told Satellite News that the cable industry, which has dominated the pay-TV market since the early 1990s, now faces tough competition from DTH and IPTV. “At present, the penetration level of DTH and IPTV is low as compared to cable TV (70 percent) but is expected to reach around 35 percent in near future. It is expected that the number of DTH and IPTV subscribers in the country will witness dynamic growth in near future,” he said.
    According to Maheshwari, while DTH technology is gaining momentum, cable still holds the dominant share in the Indian market. “It is expected that DTH services will face a serious threat from IPTV in near future. With the availability of technically advanced features, the IPTV is all set to attract new customers in years to come. As per our research, the demand of pay-TV is expected to grow in near future along with digitization of distribution platforms, driven by satellite.”
    Maheshwari also sees dim prospects for HD channel additions. “We have identified that the current demand for HDTV is very low in the country. The transmission of HD is considerably expensive for channels and, hence, is not being given much attention,” he said. “In addition, analog cable networks that supply content to the majority of homes are already too clogged with channels for HD content delivery. Owing to above stated reasons, the sales of HD set-top boxes will take some time to find their actual position in the industry.”
    Bharti Airtel CEO Ajai Puri told Satellite News that he agreed with the assessment that there is huge potential for Indian DTH growth. “If you look at DTH in the first five years in India, there were around 10 million to 12 million new customers added. Last year, when we come in, we saw the market accelerate. It is no longer just a cable replacement market but also new customers have been coming into the market, so the non-TV household market was starting to come in,” Puri said.
    With satellite at the forefront, Maheshwari believes the broadcast market in India is undergoing a revolution, with favorable market trends developing over the past few years. “Encouraged by strong consumer acceptance and optimistic future growth prospects, the Indian government is planning to launch satellites that will give more transponders for DTH transmission. Players are now adopting aggressive marketing and advertising campaign to increase the reach of their products to end consumers. The technical upgrades by operators and impressive services are some of the trends that are expected to prevail in years to come.”