IndianMascot
Core Member
Interview with MD, Grant Investrade.
NXT Digital or the Hinduja Group's head-end-in-the-sky (HITS) service will be launched sometime mid-August. It is the second serious attempt at bringing in a technology that is a cross between direct-to-home (DTH) and cable. (The first attempt was from Zee) Think of HITS as a large distributor of TV signals in the sky which could service cable operators or other signal distributors called MSOs. Vanita Kohli-Khandekar spoke to Tony D'Silva, managing director, Grant Investrade, a Hinduja Media subsidiary that will be launching NXT Digital. Edited excerpts:
Your project has been delayed for more than two years. What is the status now?
We have got the final licence. There is just one more clearance needed after we fire the signals. We should be launching by mid-August. Our Earth station has been set up in Noida and we have tied up everything - transponders on Thaicom 7, a conditional access system from Nagravision, subscriber management system from Hansen Technologies in Australia. We have recruited 200 people and most of the key ones are on board. There are 10 promotional vans going out to 30-40 cities giving demonstrations of the service. We have closed discussions with major broadcasters. Star for instance has been very supportive. They have understood the value of this proposition. They have understood how ratings will play out in rural India.
Could you explain the rural-small town connection?
The focus of NXT Digital will be in Phase-3 and 4 towns due for digitisation in the coming months. (These cover 50-100 million small-town and rural homes). We do not intend to go to Phase-1 or 2 markets. In Phase-3 and 4 towns the bigger contribution of digital homes will come from HITS. About 50 per cent of DTH subscribers are in these towns, which also have the maximum churn for DTH operators, because rain usually means signal failure. There are constraints on the number of channels DTH can offer. Also it cannot offer local channels. There are an estimated 22,000 local channels, which show festivals and local events. For example Goa has 13 Konkani channels that are not national.
NXT Digital or the Hinduja Group's head-end-in-the-sky (HITS) service will be launched sometime mid-August. It is the second serious attempt at bringing in a technology that is a cross between direct-to-home (DTH) and cable. (The first attempt was from Zee) Think of HITS as a large distributor of TV signals in the sky which could service cable operators or other signal distributors called MSOs. Vanita Kohli-Khandekar spoke to Tony D'Silva, managing director, Grant Investrade, a Hinduja Media subsidiary that will be launching NXT Digital. Edited excerpts:
Your project has been delayed for more than two years. What is the status now?
We have got the final licence. There is just one more clearance needed after we fire the signals. We should be launching by mid-August. Our Earth station has been set up in Noida and we have tied up everything - transponders on Thaicom 7, a conditional access system from Nagravision, subscriber management system from Hansen Technologies in Australia. We have recruited 200 people and most of the key ones are on board. There are 10 promotional vans going out to 30-40 cities giving demonstrations of the service. We have closed discussions with major broadcasters. Star for instance has been very supportive. They have understood the value of this proposition. They have understood how ratings will play out in rural India.
Could you explain the rural-small town connection?
The focus of NXT Digital will be in Phase-3 and 4 towns due for digitisation in the coming months. (These cover 50-100 million small-town and rural homes). We do not intend to go to Phase-1 or 2 markets. In Phase-3 and 4 towns the bigger contribution of digital homes will come from HITS. About 50 per cent of DTH subscribers are in these towns, which also have the maximum churn for DTH operators, because rain usually means signal failure. There are constraints on the number of channels DTH can offer. Also it cannot offer local channels. There are an estimated 22,000 local channels, which show festivals and local events. For example Goa has 13 Konkani channels that are not national.
