ITV

Tag: KR Sridhara Murthi

  • Tata-Sky leases Insat 4A; to offer 150 channels

    Tata-Sky leases Insat 4A; to offer 150 channels

    MUMBAI: The countdown is well and truly on for Tata Sky Ltd, the Tata-Star joint venture, to launch direct-to-home (DTH) services in India.

    Tata Sky announced today that it has signed an agreement with the Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro) to lease all 12 Ku-band transponders on the Insat 4A satellite. These transponders will be used by Tata Sky to provide about 150 channels in digital quality to Indian homes, including those in the remote interiors.

    Additionally, the company, formerly called Space TV, announced its re-christening to Tata Sky Ltd, and the branding of its DTH service as Tata Sky (and not T-Sky as earlier announced).

    “We will be launching our service with 150 channels,” says Tata Sky Ltd CEO Vikram Kaushik.

    On being queried as to how 150 channels could be offered with 12 Ku-band transponders, he refuses to spell out the compression technology the company plans to use.

    Industry experts say 10 channels can be comfortably squeezed in per transponder. But with statistical multiplexing, Tata Sky can be able to accommodate 150 channels, they add.

    The other option to ramp up more channels in 12 Ku-band transponders is to use MPEG-4 compression technology, but experts say the product is not fully out yet in the market and the price is not attractive at this stage.

    The company is planning to launch its services in March-June 2006. But aren’t 8-10 clearances still to be obtained from various ministries? “We expect to get all the clearances very soon,” says Kaushik.

    Commenting on signing up with Isro, Kaushik says: “Tata Sky is proud to use an Indian satellite to deliver its service to all television viewers in India. We are excited that our DTH service will be beamed from Isro’s Insat 4A, the most advanced and high-powered Ku-band communication satellite in the region. This will enable Tata Sky to offer superior picture and sound quality with a wider range of channels, giving us a competitive edge in the market.”

    Adds executive director of Antrix Corporation, the marketing and export arm of the department of space and Isro, KR Sridhara Murthi, “We are very happy to partner with Tata Sky in their endeavour to bring about a revolution in television-viewing to India. The Insat 4A satellite has been developed keeping the local requirements in mind and will enable Tata Sky to provide superior coverage all across India.”

    According to an official release, Tata Sky plans to offer its subscribers cable channels, new innovative programming and interactive services.

    As already reported by indiantelevision.com, Isro is planning to launch Insat 4A from Kourou, French Guayana, on 16 December. According to information available with this website, after launch, a satellite takes anywhere between one to two months to settle into its geostationary orbital slot. What follows then is a month of signal testing after which the service can be offered to consumers. Going by this timeline, Tata Sky should become operational anytime between March and June 2006.

  • Isro, Measat join forces to create satellite capacity powerhouse

    Isro, Measat join forces to create satellite capacity powerhouse

    MUMBAI: Indian Space Research Organisation’s commercial arm Antrix Corporation and Malaysia’s Measat Global Bhd. have signed an agreement to form a joint venture company to pool their satellite capacities.

    The JV will leverage capacity from both the high powered Indian INSAT and Malaysian Measat satellite fleets to provide commercial satellite services across the wider Asia-Pacific region.

    By pooling agreed capacity from these neighbouring satellites in the strategically located orbital slots of 93.5E and 91.5E, the JV will be able to provide C-band satellite services to over 70 per cent of the world’s population, and Direct-to-Home (DTH) quality Ku-band satellite services to over 160 million TV households across South Asia, Malaysia, Indonesia, Australia and Indochina.

    The JV, which will be equally owned by the two companies, represents a significant breakthrough and major step in the ongoing cooperation between the Indian and Malaysian satellite sectors. The move is to develop a satellite neighbourhood for millions of broadcasting and telecommunications customers across the wider Asia Pacific region, says an official release.

    According to the release, Indian Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh and Malaysian Prime Minister YAB Dato’ Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi witnessed the signing of the landmark agreement.

    “We have been working closely with Measat across a number of areas over the last few years, including the provision of consultancy services to Measat for the procurement of its satellite” says Antrix executive director KR Sridhara Murthi. “We are excited to be able to extend our cooperation through this joint venture, and position INSAT to be a leading satellite system serving the wider Asia-Pacific market.”

    As part of the ongoing cooperation between the two organizations, Measat has also signed a Letter Of Intent with Antrix to procure a new satellite, MEASAT-4, from ISRO. The satellite will provide additional Ku-band capacity for the Measat fleet, as well as the opportunity for the Indian and Malaysian space communities to work together.

    Detailed discussions on technical and commercial issues are at an advanced stage, with the satellite expected to be procured for scheduled launch Q1 2007.

    “We have used Indian Space technology and expertise on the MEASAT-1 and MEASAT-3 programs,” says Measat Satellite Systems director Y.Bhg. Tun Haji Mohammed Hanif Omar. “We are pleased to be able to work with ISRO and Antrix on a new satellite which will further our joint interests across the region,” Tun Hanif concludes.