India adds another 2 million DTH subscribers in 1Q 2012

“Indian Telecom Services Performance Indicator Report” for the Quarter ending March, 2012

NEW DELHI — The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) today released the “Indian Telecom Services Performance Indicator Report” for the Quarter ending March 2012. This Report provides a broad perspective of the Telecom Services and presents the key parameters and growth trends for the Telecom Services as well as Cable TV, DTH & Radio Broadcasting services in India for the period covering January to March 2012, and is compiled on the basis of information furnished by the Service Providers.

Broadcasting & Cable Services

Besides the free DTH service of Doordarshan, there are 6 private DTH licensees, offering their services to the DTH subscribers. As on 31.03.2012, their reported subscriber base is 46.25 million.

                                                  2011       2012
                                  --------------------  ---------
                                  End-Sept.   End-Dec.  End-March
                                  ---------  ---------  ---------
DTH Subscribers (millions)            41.04      44.21      46.25

DTH Licensees:

Tata Sky Ltd., Dish TV India Ltd., SUN Direct TV(P) Ltd., Bharti Telemedia Ltd. (Airtel), Reliance Big TV Pvt. Ltd., Bharat Business Channel Ltd.

The number of Set Top Boxes (STBs) installed in CAS notified areas of Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata and Chennai increased from 853,737 at the end of Dec-11 to 905,343 at the end of Mar-12.

Number of set-top boxes:

CAS                       2011       2012
notified  --------------------  ---------
area      End-Sept.   End-Dec.  End-March
--------  ---------  ---------  ---------
Chennai     188,839    206,366    222,779
Kolkata      93,432    103,729    114,051
Mumbai      324,150    327,385    330,845
Delhi       213,539    216,257    237,668
          ---------  ---------  ---------
TOTAL       819,960    853,737    905,343