By Manoj Govindassamy - { 15/04/10 }
Airtel DTH launches DVR – Record your TV shows from Mobile – Remote Recording
DTH (Direct To Home) is still in its early stage in the country. The early movers like Zee Network’s Dish TV, Tata Sky from Tata and Sun TV Network’s Sun Direct have got good acceptance from consumers and are spreading faster. DTH operators are trying out various channel packages and offers to woo new customers.
Tata Sky is quite popular in the metros and in the urban areas. Though Tata’s DTH service costs way higher than other players, tech savy consumers are preferring Tata Sky mainly for custom features that come with the service and the transparency in the billing and package structures.
Now, Airtel is following suit. Airtel Digital TV has announced the launch of its Digital Video Recorder (DVR) capability in its service. Tata Sky and Dish TV both have DVRs. Sun Direct is also planning to offer DVR services.
Airtel, which is also the country’s largest telecom operator is trying out some novel ideas to promote its newly introduced DVR services by coming up with a Smart Phone Application to control recording of TV shows. Consumers can record up to 100 hours of programming anywhere and anytime using their mobile phones*.
The newly introduced GPRS application will enable users to view the programming description, length and ratings of shows, and can search for any TV show. The new Set Top Box will cost Rs 6990 to new customer and old customer going in for an upgrade will have to shell out Rs 5990. To download the mobile recording application customers will have to send an SMS with ‘mguide’ from their registered mobile number to 54325.
Airtel wants to use its mega mobile consumer base of over 100 million to promote its DTH services and these mobile applications and DVR features can really get the company on those lines.
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- Desh
