Big TV launches iStock on DTH, plans expansion

Dish TV provider Reliance Big TV on Thursday unveiled its new interactive feature, iStock, the country's first portfolio tracking application through the DTH platform. The application has been launched in association with Reliance Money, which created a unique iStock zone on Reliance Big TV's DTH service.

The zone will not only provide information on Indian and international indices, currencies, commodities, stocks and stock market news, but also provide Reliance Big TV customers with value added services, including a personal portfolio management tracker.

Speaking at a press conference in Mumbai, Mahesh Prasad, president of the Anil Ambani-owned Reliance Communications, said, ''We would like for people to be able to trade from their living rooms. However, that will only happen providing the regulatory body or the Securities and Exchange Board of India allows trading on the DTH platform. This will be followed by a chat facility and then allowing people to address customers. But, that will take time.''

Just 11 months old, Big TV has mopped up 1.8 million subscribers and is close to breaching the two-million subscriber base. ''Our goal is to reach three million subscribers by the end of this year,'' said. Prasad.

Though offered as a free service, as part of its long term strategy, the company may decide to charge for its interactive applications through targeted revenue modules.

Prasad said that of the 130 million television households in India, around 70 million were either cable or DTH homes with cable homes at around 50 million and DTH homes at around 20 million. ''So around 50-60 million homes have no connectivity to cable or DTH at all. This is a big opportunity for Big TV as we have a pan-India presence in 6,500 towns and over one lakh retailers.''