Tata Sky Satellite Television Service Launches Across the Country

New Delhi: Tata Sky Ltd, the 80:20 JV between the Tata Group and Star TV, has announced the launch of its Tata Sky satellite television service across 300 cities in India today.

With set top boxes priced at Rs2,999 and an introductory offer of Rs200 per month, Tata Sky will offer subscribers, channels from STAR, Sony, Discovery, Disney, MTV, NDTV, ESPN STAR Sports, National Geographic, Eenadu, TV Today and Asianet among others.

The service has been designed to give subscribers a choice of all their preferred television channels in DVD quality picture and CD quality sound. According to a press release, the new service enables a host of interactive services such as an on-screen programme guide, Actve Sports, Actve STAR News, Actve Newsroom and Actve Khabar.

The press release cites Vikram Kaushik, managing director and CEO, Tata Sky, as saying, "By bringing satellite television directly into Indian homes, Tata Sky is set to change the way viewers watch television - with pristine quality, choice, convenience and control at their fingertips, delivered at a competitive price. We look forward to bringing the magic of Tata Sky to television viewers throughout the country."

To offer maximum convenience to subscribers, Tata Sky has set up a pan-India distribution network of popular consumer electronic stores and mobile phone outlets for retailing its hardware and prepaid recharge vouchers. The company has also tied up with LG, ITC International Business Division and Indian Oil Corporation as part of its distribution drive.

Tata Sky will be responsible for installing and servicing the hardware at the subscriber's home.

Tata Sky says its service offering is superior to that of its rival since:
The total number of 88 channels available in the base package of Dish TV is inclusive of 31 free to air (FTA) channels from DD Direct+. Effectively, if one excludes the FTA channels from the total number of channel offering on Dish TV's base package, the service offering comes 57 channels versus Tata Sky's 58. Moreover, Tata Sky says that interactive services (available on Tata Sky) are not available on Dish TV.