India adds 8.45 million DTH subscribers in 2013

NEW DELHI — The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) today released the “Indian Telecom Services Performance Indicator Report” for the Quarter ending December, 2013. 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, 2013, and is compiled on the basis of information furnished by the Service Providers.

DTH Services

Besides the free DTH service of Doordarshan- a public broadcaster, there are 6 private DTH licensees, offering their services to the DTH subscribers. As on 31.12.2013, their reported registered and active subscriber base is 62.97 million and 35.81 million respectively.

DTH Subscribers (millions):

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

                                      2013
------------------------------------------
End-March   End-June  End-Sept.   End-Dec.
---------  ---------  ---------  ---------
    56.50      58.89      60.71      62.97

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

The digitization of cable TV sector is in progress in a phase manner in the country. The first phase for migration to Digital Addressable Cable TV System was 31.10.2012 and second phase was 31.03.2013.

Migration to Digital Addressable Cable TV Systems:

                                                                       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