India – The mass departure of customers to cable television and competition from new players are keeping direct-to-home (DTH) service providers on the edge despite growth in the market. With quality of service being a problem to the DTH subscribers, other common complaints are absence of regional channels from the bouquets and higher fees than cable. The recent entry of Sun Direct in the eastern market, with subscription rates as low as Rs 290 for the first four months and add-on packages starting from Rs 6, has created a flutter among existing DTH players. Airtel digital TV, Reliance Big TV and Tata Sky+ are the other new DTH services in the city market. Videocon is expected to join the fray in the next few months. Dish TV recently announced a ‘recharge free’ offer, under which subscribers get back the entire recharge amount through movies on demand and pay channel subscription. Salil Kapoor, chief operating officer of Dish TV said that the offer is intended to help retain existing customers in the face of increasing competition. Vikram Mehra, chief marketing officer of Tata Sky acknowledged”a slight drainage” of customers and stressed improvement to hold on to them. According to industry estimates, there are 9.5 to 10 million DTH homes in the country. Dish TV put its subscriber base at five million and Tata Sky at three million.
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