Article Videocon Group entering cable STB manufacturing biz

[Tillu]

Videocon Group entering cable STB manufacturing biz

Posted on: 05/05/2014 08:11 AM
Javed Farooqui

MUMBAI: Consumer electronics major Videocon Group is entering the cable TV set-top box (STB) manufacturing business.

Trend Electronics Ltd (TEL), which manufactures STBs for Videocon’s direct-to-home (DTH) company Bharat Business Channel at its Aurangabad plant, aims to cash in on the huge business opportunity even as Phases III and IV of digitisation are up for implementation.

Gearing up to explore the cable TV market, the Videocon Group company is planning to roll out the STBs from next month. “The Videocon factory has successfully manufactured 11 million STBs so far. It is now set to manufacture STBs for cable as well. It will be rolling out cable STBs probably from next month,” Videocon d2h CEO Anil Khera told TelevisionPost.com.

Atul Saraf-promoted ABS Group, which runs a health channel Care World and a cable TV network in Mumbai, has contracted TEL to manufacture the STBs. The company plans to sell the STBs in markets under Phases III and IV of digital addressable system (DAS). “The factory has agreed to manufacture STBs for Saraf also,” said Khera.

The cable STB market is currently dominated by multinational companies like Cisco and Chinese vendors like Coship. Multi-system operators (MSOs) have preferred to import the STBs, rather than tapping into the domestic market which is at a nascent stage.

The STBs for ABS will have Broadcom chipsets while Hyderabad-based Corpus Software will develop middleware solutions. “We have already tested the STBs and are ready to deploy them. We will make MPEG2 and MPEG4 STBs using Broadcom chipsets. The MPEG4 STBs, in particular, will offer a lot of value-added services.

The CAS used in the STBs will be from multiple vendors like Sumavision, Irdeto, Cryptoguard and Cisco NDS,” Saraf explained. According to Saraf, the time is ripe for indigenous STB manufacturers to make the most of DAS.

The cost of MPEG2 SD box works out at around Rs 1,200–1,300 while that of the MPEG4 HD box works out at around Rs 2,300–2,400. The biggest advantage of manufacturing STBs locally is the availability of after-sales service.

Videocon, Saraf said, has about 200 service centres all over India that will come in handy in case there are problems in the STBs. “The biggest problem with Chinese vendors is the language barrier. The other is that they don’t have service centres in India. India can also save money in foreign exchange,” he affirmed. The Videocon factory in Aurangabad has a capacity of manufacturing one million STBs a month in one shift. In multiple shifts, that number will go up significantly.

TEL is an Indian contract electronics manufacturer and Bharat Business Channel’s sole supplier of STBs. Bharat Business Channel operates its DTH business under Videocon d2h brand.

Read more at: http://www.televisionpost.com/dth/videocon-group-entering-stb-manufacturing-biz/ | TelevisionPost.com

 

[Technoglitch]

the outcome would be more cheap stbs with sub standard qualities.

 

[DashMajor]

So Videocon is looking forward to cable Industries.

 

[IndianMascot]

No, i think they are trying to seed STB into market and enhance their STB manufacturing units to produce and earn more from available opportunities as they are the only operator who manufacture STB in India.