India’s state-run telecommunications company Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Ltd (MTNL) plans to sign commercial arrangements with broadcasters like STAR TV, Zee TV and Sony Entertainment, among others, for its Internet Protocol TV (IPTV) services, reports The Financial Express newspaper.
‘Tri-Band,’ MTNL’s IPTV service that is currently undergoing trials in parts of Delhi and Mumbai is expected to target 200,000 broadband subscribers when it formally launches in the two cities. Bharti Enterprises, India’s largest private mobile services company, is also conducting IPTV trials in Gurgaon, a suburb of Delhi, with test signals from STAR Plus, ESPN and Zee TV, sources told the newspaper.
“We have given our signals to MTNL and Bharti for testing IPTV,” a STAR TV official said. “In Chandigarh, we are even offering `Triple Play’,” the official added, referring to a bundled offering of voice, video and data.
There are currently no regulations in place for IPTV services in India. “The commercial launch of IPTV will be possible as soon as regulations regarding content, program code and other governing guidelines are getting in place,” a senior official at the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India told the newspaper.
I visited an MTNL office a few years back. Would never anticipate that company in that office getting into IPTV
Do people really need more TV? Especially Tele-Basura? I am sure there are those reading this blog and its regular updates on IPTV, deals with entertainment companies, etc. who relish the thought of seeing more TV. but there’s so much trash on TV, plus really lousy irritating ads, it’s painful to watch. I don’t watch TV anymore.
And like nuclear waste, tele-basura in the form of Idols and Big Brother like shows are now winding their way around the world, to India, the Philippines, etc.
Their is a lot of Hype wrt IPTV in India. No regulations in place yet implies more hurdles. Cable operators are lobbying to include IPTV in the same bill while telcos have outright rejected the proposal.
Unlike the West, IPTV service providers in India are not talking of any value added services(On demand Movies, Gaming, JukeBox, etc) that will excite the Indian consumer to go for it. I have sent questionnaires to Bharti & Reliance but have not received any reply after 15 days.
EsmeV:
I agree with you. We certainly don’t need more TV. However, I have a feeling that IPTV is not going to be a hit like VoIP in the next 2 years at least; certainly not it countries like India and Philippines. Why? Two prime reasons:
a) Cable television is cheap. It is sometimes as low as 100 Indian rupees for 50 channels [mix of paid and free channels, though all popular paid channels are available] in some neighbourhoods.
b) Broadband penetration in homes (mind you, not Internet users).
I don’t think so broadband is cheaply and readily available in india ’s major cities. While for rural areas Bsnl is providing it.
the thing is that needs is not there for so much except for p2p.
Also for cable connection are mostly available for 200(not 100) which will soon end with introduction of CAS. where only Free to air channels are available.
with time all people will certainly see the growing importance of these TV. We also do use voip at large scale than we preivously used to.
It will certainly benifit all in long run with 3G mobiles coming in
I would like to know more information on ip tv
the cost rent etc