Bharti Airtel launches Airtel Digital DTH satellite TV service in India
Bharti Airtel, India's largest private sector telecommunications company, is getting set to dabble in the crazy world of DTH satellite service. Beginning today, it will offer television to 62 cities in India, and according to Atul Bindal, president, Bharti Telemedia Services, the outfit will be "aggressively marketing its DTH service by offering superior quality at competitive prices." Additionally, the carrier will be utilizing the MPEG-4 standard with DVB-S2 technology in order to broadcast more content using less bandwidth, making it ripe for HD delivery. Initially, at least, packages will start at Rs.2499 ($52) in northern India and Rs.1499 ($31) in southern India, which includes the price of an STB and installation. There's no high-def content on tap just yet, but we'd be shocked if that's still the case a year from now.
