Sun Direct DTH enters North and West India

Sun Direct TV, a Chennai based leading direct-to-home (DTH) service providing company, after achieving huge success in the south Indian market has on Friday announced to introduce its service in northern and western region of the country to multiply its subscription base.

Sun Direct, an 80:20 joint venture of Maran family and Malaysia-based Astro Group has launched its service in Punjab, Gujarat, Jammu and Kashmir, Haryana and Himachal Pradesh after capturing over 1.4-million subscribers across South India in just 200 days.

It had launched its service in four states of South India- Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Kerala and Karnataka- in December last year and grabbed over 14 lakh users with its high quality but low cost service, and now eyeing to make it double by the end of this year.

In the northern and western region, it has set off its service from Chandigarh and Ahmedabad and now planning to enter into North East, Orissa, Maharashtra, West Bengal and subsequently in UP, MP and Bihar to achieve its target.

To expand its service in pan India, Sun TV has recently pumped up Rs.150-crore in its business, as per sources.

After launching its service in Chandigarh, Tony D’silva, the Chief Operating Officer of Sun Direct said, “We are all set for a pan India launch of our services. We have spent time to understand the regional customer needs which reflects in our packaging and pricing structure.”

In the introductory package, Sun Direct TV is offering more than 130 channels for a subscription period of 10 months in just Rs.999, while its add-on channel packages begin from low cost of Rs.10 – Rs.115. Moreover, it is also offering free hardware (dish and set top box) with installation charges of Rs.1,000 only.

Sun official has claimed to provide DVD quality picture in affordable prices. Its advanced MPEG4 technology would ensure its customers to provide better compression and signal quality. It has also claimed to be ready for offering first ever High Definition Television content in India.

However, the company has to compete with several DTH players in northern and western region including Dish TV, Tata Sky and recently launched Big TV of Reliance Entertainment. However, company top officials have claimed it to be the second largest DTH player on back of its cheap-and-best policy service.