DTH subscriber base above 13 million in the country: TRAI

The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) on Monday said the DTH subscriber base has swelled to more than 13 million in the country, indicating an increased penetration of the service.

The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) on Monday said the DTH subscriber base has swelled to more than 13 million in the country, indicating an increased penetration of the service.

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TRAI said “total number of reported registered Direct to Home (DTH) subscribers served by five private DTH operators, offering paid service, had gone up to 13.09 million till the end of March 2009”.

At present, apart from the free DTH service of Doordarshan, there are six private DTH licensees. While the said five are already in operation, the sixth is in the process of rolling out its services, TRAI said.

About installation of set-top boxes in Conditional Access System (CAS) notified areas in the four metros, it said 7,70,053 boxes had been installed till March 31 this year.

On the mushrooming of entertainment channels in the country, the regulatory body said there was a total of 130 pay channels as of March 31, based on the data received from 19 broadcasters and their distributors across the country.

However, the maximum number of free-to-air and pay channels being carried in any particular cable networks as reported by Multi system operators range from 118 to 168, it said in a release.