Tata-Star''s Space TV to go on air next year

Space TV, the Tata-Star joint venture, will launch its Direct-to-Home (DTH) service next year to enter the digital telecasting segment in the country, J J Irani, director, Tata Sons told reporters in Kolkata this morning, a day after the DoT cleared the proposal. Irani, however, declined to specify when exactly the launch would take place next year.

In addition to Space TV, the Sun Group's DTH platform, Sun DirectTV, is also due to take to the air. So far, the two existing DTH telecasters in the country have been Subhash Chandra's Dish TV, with 200,000 subscribers was the first to get on air in October 2003, followed by government-owned autonomous Prasar Bharati, which commenced its free DDDirect in December 2004, claims a subscriber base of two million.

The Tata-Star DTH service, once operational, would become India's largest digital television platform, offering consumers a range of programming choices with interactive features. It has signed an agreement with the Indian Space Research Organisation to lease all its 12 KU-band transponders on the new Insat 4A satellite to enable it to transmit 150 channels. (See: Tata-Star DTH venture to lease ISRO's INSAT 4A satellite) The joint venture, which was formalised in 2004 between the Tata Group (with an 80-per cent shareholding and the Star Group with 20 per cent) is estimated to cost Rs1,600 crore.