The popularity of DTH is on rise. Slowly but steadily people are getting rid of their traditional cable connections and joining the DTH bandwagon. There are quite a few numbers of companies to offer direct-to-home services in India at affordable rates. Also, because of increasing competition, subscription and installation charges are falling down. Direct Plus is an offer from DD (DoorDarshan). To the delight of customers, people can enjoy direct plus services at free of cost.
DoorDarshan is a public television broadcaster and that explains why they can afford to treat their customers in such an exciting way. However, most of the channels offered by DD Direct Plus are for regional audiences. There are quite a number of channels in Tamil, Hindi and Punjabi apart from few international channels. People can enjoy more than 50 channels without paying anything. That way, Direct Plus is giving other channels a run for their money.
Other DTH service providers are mostly private companies and they offer various international channels whereas DD relies more on providing regional channels. That way, there is a scope for both the businesses in India. DD Direct Plus boasts of an estimated 7 million subscriber base whereas other two big players Dish TV and Tata Sky have a subscriber base of around 2.7 million and 1 million, respectively.
DD Direct Plus has five transponders with capacity of almost 14-15 channels on each transponder. The company is also planning to enhance transponders capacity and offer more than 100 channels in the near future. Currently, Direct Plus offers 21 DD channels and 18 private channels in addition to 20 All India Radio stations and three private FM stations. When Direct Plus was launched, approximately 10,000 dish and set-top boxes were provided free of cost to schools, public health centres, youth clubs, Anganwadis, Panchayats etc. Apart, there are no subscription charges.
For further information, one can visit
www.ddindia.com and www.ddnews.com.