Mumbai: Anil Ambani group's direct-to-home venture Reliance BIG TV announced the launch of DTH services in the country today.

A wholly-owned subsidiary of Reliance Communications, Reliance Big TV will offer a bouquet of 200 channels with digital quality picture and sound to customers in the initial phase, the company said in a statement.

Reliance BIG TV Ltd, which boasts of the world's most advanced MPEG4 direct-to-home platform, is targeting 40 per cent market share within a span of one year.

The service will be available across 6,500 towns in the country, the company said.

The company has set up a call centre to facilitate the service roll out. The centre is capable of handling over 50,000 calls per day and would operate from two locations to enable speedy response to consumer queries, the release added.

DTH services currently has a market share of only four per cent in India against 95 per cent held by analogue cable services.

''The huge potential of a quality and value offering in the home entertainment service market offers us a unique opportunity to tap the strengths and synergies of telecommunications and entertainment sectors embedded within Reliance ADA Group. With the launch of BIG TV DTH, we aim to accelerate the growth momentum enhancing value of many million shareholders of Reliance Communications,'' the release quoted ADA Group chairman Anil Ambani as saying.

The upfront charges of BIG TV services would be between Rs1,490 and Rs3,990 (plus installation charges) depending on the scheme.

Reliance ADA is planning a huge ad campaign to promote BIG TV nationwide. It will also tap its existing customer base in different business verticals.