What are the prospects of DTH and CAS technology in India?
In India the deployment of DTH and CAS is set to escalate during 2008, and
we as a company are privileged to be able to partner with leading operators in
both the satellite and cable space. A 2008 report by Media Partners Asia
predicts that India's market for broadcasting and pay-TV will grow about 20% per
year. Thus, the face of cable TV in India is set to change dramatically. The
fragmented market is currently undergoing consolidation, as well as regulatory
changes.
With the emergence of innovative applications and technologies such as
IPTV, what are your strategies and offerings on it?
Although IPTV is in its nascent stage, the future is very promising. Having
been in the IPTV market since 2000, we have successfully been able to put in an
end-to-end integrated, secure IPTV middleware platform called NDS Metro. NDS
Metro is specifically designed to address and manage issues that are crucial to
an IPTV provider, including interoperability, scalability, flexibility, DRM, and
interactivity.
You have recently opened an office in New Delhi, is this a step toward
further expansion in the Indian market?
Yes, we are very optimistic about the growth of the Indian pay TV market.
The opening of our sales and support office in New Delhi allows us to enhance
our reach and local support capabilities, and to better serve our existing and
future customers. In conjunction, the NDS Mumbai office and Bangalore R&D center
will also continue to grow.
Is mobile TV going to be the next revolution in India?
Mobile TV has generated a lot of buzz, but globally there have been very few
successful deployments. Though it does have a future, it will only be used as a
complementary service to more traditional platform services.
India is clearly a dynamic growth market for broadcast technologies due to
its size and density of population. Also, the convergence of broadcast and
mobile markets will result in favorable conditions for broadcast mobile TV
services like DVB-H/SH, MediaFlo, or DMB. Once these technologies reach
acceptable price levels for the Indian market, particularly on handsets, the
market will move ahead rapidly.
What is your roadmap for this year?
We are working with Bharti and Digital Entertainment Network (DEN) to
protect and power new digital satellite services. Hathway has also selected our
digital video recorder (DVR) technology to launch India's first cable DVR
service. Furthermore, we will continue to develop low cost solutions for rural
areas to give small last mile operators a chance to go digital in the Indian
market.
Jatinder Singh
jatinders@cybermedia.co.in
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