Facing intense competition and declining ARPUs, telecom players have been turning their attention to the broadcasting space to improve their bottom lines. Consequently, the market has been flooded with economical direct-to-home (DTH) and IPTV offerings, which yielded revenues of $1.5 billion in 2012, as per industry estimates.
According to Media Partners Asia, in 2012, Dish TV led the Indian DTH market with a share of 27 per cent in terms of gross additions while Videocon d2h led the market in terms of subscriber additions. Tata Sky and Airtel Digital TV have 19 per cent and 18 per cent market share respectively. Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) and Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Limited (MTNL) are also present in the DTH space.
Interestingly, rural markets have emerged as a major revenue generator for these players. According to estimates, the number of DTH subscribers stood at 32.4 million at end-2012. About 60 per cent of these customers were from rural areas, where operators have been aggressively promoting services in regional languages, bundled with applications related to education, entertainment, etc.
Currently, rural and semi-urban areas together account for 65 per cent of new subscriptions for established DTH players such as Airtel Digital TV, Videocon d2h and Reliance Big TV. For other players like Dish TV, Tata Sky and Sun Direct DTH, the mix of rural and urban subscribers stands at 50 per cent.
Going forward, this space is expected to continue to offer lucrative business opportunities to telecom players. According to a study by Media Partners Asia, the Indian DTH market is expected to be valued at $3.9 billion in 2017 and $5 billion in 2020. A key growth driver for the DTH industry is the government?s mandate for digitisation. Industry analysts expect consolidation in this space over the next two years, bringing the number of players down to three.
However, several challenges need to be addressed to leverage these services. The two biggest factors hindering the growth of DTH and IPTV services are slow broadband penetration and the pricing structure.
tele.net takes a look at the various DTH and IPTV offerings available in the market today?
BSNL
The telecom major launched IPTV services in 2008 in collaboration with Smart Digivision Limited, initially offering 140 channels. The service is divided into two categories ? South India and Rest of India (East, West and North). For both categories, 21 ? la carte channels are available, with monthly rentals ranging from Rs 5 to Rs 40 per channel.
In addition, eight add-on packs are available ? Sports Platinum (Rs 90 per month); ETV Telegu (Rs 12 per month); Zee North (Rs 30 per month); ETV North (Rs 30 per month); Zee Lifestyle (Rs 50 per month); Sports Gold (Rs 60 per month); Zee South (Rs 25 per month); and Raj (Rs 2 per month).
The Rest of India category comprises four offerings ? the Megahit pack, the Superhit pack, the Hit pack and the Super Value pack. The Megahit pack is priced at Rs 444 per month and offers 157 channels; the Superhit pack is priced at Rs 333 per month and offers 151 channels; the Hit pack entails a monthly rental of Rs 249 per month and offers 122 channels; and the Super Value pack offers 133 channels for Rs 280 per month.
The South India category offers 11 packages ? the Malayalam Gold, Tamil Gold, Telugu Gold and Kannada Gold (all offer 97 channels for Rs 200 per month); the Hit pack (122 channels for Rs 249 per month); the Super Value, Tamil Diamond, Telugu Diamond and Kannada Diamond packs (133, 125, 128 and 126 channels respectively for Rs 280 per month); the Super Hit pack (151 channels for Rs 333 per month); and the Mega Hit pack (157 channels for Rs 444 per month).
MTNL
MTNL launched IPTV services in Mumbai in 2006, the first operator to do so in the country. The company had tied up with Aksh Optifibre Limited and UT Starcom for offering the services.
Currently, its IPTV offering comprises three plans ? Premium, Connoisseur and Ultimate 399.
These plans offer 140 channels and users are charged a refundable security deposit of Rs 999 for the set-top box. Moreover, Rs 200 is charged for installation and registration.
The Premium plan entails a monthly charge of Rs 249 and does not offer any sports channels. Users opting for the Connoisseur plan are charged Rs 299 as monthly rental and can avail of sports channels as part of the 140 channels on offer. The Ultimate 399 plan entails a monthly rental of Rs 399 and includes the ESPN, Star Sports and Star Cricket channels.
Videocon d2h
The company launched DTH services under the d2h brand in 2009. In 2012, its subscriber base stood at 6 million.
Videocon offers DTH services under three categories ? Base Package, ? la carte and Base Package + ? la carte.
These are further segmented into offers for the northern, eastern, western and southern regions. Users can select from packages like the Super Gold pack, the Gold Entertainment HD pack, the Platinum pack and the Platinum HD pack. These packages are priced at Rs 220.23 to Rs 480.90. Subscribers opting for the Platinum HD pack can avail of 376 channels for Rs 480.90 per month. For the southern states, the company offers plans like the New South Gold pack and South Gold Sports HD. These packages are available at Rs 165.17-Rs 480.90 per month. As part of the ? la carte offering, Videocon offers packages under categories like general entertainment, Hindi movies, Hindi news, sports and regional general entertainment and news channels.
Bharti Airtel Digital Television
Bharti Airtel became the fifth operator to enter the DTH space in 2008 with the launch of Airtel Digital Television. The company has reportedly signed a non-disclosure agreement with around seven strategic and private equity players for selling 25 per cent stake in its DTH arm for $200 million. Its DTH plans are divided into five categories ? entry offers, monthly, Chota, ? la carte and advanced rental packs. The offerings are further classified under Rest of India and South India.
The entry offers (on a pan-Indian basis, a standard set-top box and a 0-2-month validity period) include 13 packages priced between Rs 1,790 and Rs 1,999. The monthly rental ranges from Rs 175 to Rs 562.
The monthly packs available for Rest of India are available in four categories ? Value Sports, Economy Sports, Mega and Ultra. The Value Sports pack offers up to 155 channels for Rs 220 per month; the Economy Sports pack offers up to 181 channels for Rs 295 per month; the Mega pack offers up to 208 channels for Rs 350 per month; and the Ultra pack offers up to 220 channels for Rs 430 per month.
The South India DTH package includes the South Super Value, South Value, South Value Sports, South Economy Sports, South Mega and South Ultra packs.
The South Super Value pack offers up to 141 channels for Rs 175 per month; the South Value pack offers up to 156 channels for Rs 200 per month; the South Value Sports pack offers up to 164 channels for Rs 225 per month; the South Economy Sports pack offers up to 182 channels for Rs 270 per month; the South Mega pack offers up to 206 channels for Rs 400 per month; and the South Ultra pack offers up to 217 channels for Rs 475 per month.
The Chota pack features 25 plans, with monthly rentals ranging from Rs 15 to Rs 150. The ? la carte plan comprises the business news, entertainment, infotainment, international, kids, lifestyle, movies, music, news, devotional and sports categories.
The company?s advanced rental DTH offerings are further segregated into the Rest of India and South standard packs. The Rest of India Standard pack consists of 14 packs priced between Rs 220 and Rs 562. Customers can also pay a rental of Rs 1,250 to Rs 6,200 for six months in advance.
The South Standard package offers 14 plans at a rental of Rs 175 to Rs 575. Customers can pay six months? rental in advance, which will range from Rs 1,000 to Rs 6,210.
In the IPTV segment, the company offers two plans ? IPTV 1099 and IPTV 1199 Plus. All plans offer connectivity speeds of 2 Mbps and involve initial charges of Rs 3,500 (for the set-top box, Wi-Fi connectivity, etc.). The IPTV 1099 plan entails a monthly rental of Rs 1,200, and offers 10 GB of free data usage and 107 channels.
The IPTV 1199 Plus plan entails a monthly rental of Rs 1,300 and offers 138 channels.
Reliance Digital TV
Reliance Communications entered the DTH space in 2008 with the launch of Big TV. The service was later rebranded as Reliance Digital TV.
The operator?s IPTV offerings are divided into three categories ? entry offers, super saving long-term packs and regional pack discounts. The entry offers are divided into the South and Non-South categories.
The South category comprises four packs ? Value Sports, Bronze Sports, Gold and Platinum. Prices range from Rs 1,790 to Rs 5,290, and the number of channels offered is 133 to 191.
The Non-South category also comprises four offerings ? the Bronze, Silver Sports, Gold and Platinum packs. These packs are available at a price of Rs 2,290 to Rs 5,290, and offer 136 to 172 channels.
The long-term packs for the southern region comprise eight plans, with monthly charges of Rs 170 to Rs 499. For the Non-South category, six packs are available at monthly charges of Rs 220 to Rs 499. The regional pack category comprises 12 packs of Rs 33 each. The operator?s IPTV services are currently available in select areas of Mumbai.
Therefore, there is a huge market for DTH and IPTV services, and operators are well positioned to capitalise on this opportunity.
