India adds over 10 million satellite TV subscribers in 2012

NEW DELHI — The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has released “The Indian Telecom Services Performance Indicators” for the Quarter ending December 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 October to December 2012, and is compiled on the basis of information furnished by the Service Providers.

DTH Services

Besides the free DTH service of Doordarshan, there are 6 private DTH licensees, offering their services to the DTH subscribers. As of 31.12.2012, their reported registered subscriber base was 54.52 million.

DTH Subscribers (millions)

                2011                                        2012
--------------------  ------------------------------------------
End-Sept.   End-Dec.  End-March   End-June  End-Sept.   End-Dec.
---------  ---------  ---------  ---------  ---------  ---------
    41.04      44.21      46.25      48.45      50.91      54.52

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.

Cable TV Services

The Government has notified for implementation of Digital Addressable Cable TV Systems (DAS) in India, in four phases, starting from November, 2012 and completing by December 2014. The final schedule notified by the Government for migration to DAS is:

                                                                       Sunset date for
Phase      Areas                                                       analog Cable TV
---------  ----------------------------------------------------------  ---------------
Phase-I    Four Metros of Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai              31.10.2012
Phase-II   Cities with a population more than one million (38 cities)  31.03.2013
Phase-III  All Urban areas (Municipal Corporation/ Municipalities)     30.09.2014
Phase-IV   Rest of India                                               31.12.2014