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NSTPL plans Rs 15 bn investment in HITS

Published

13 years ago

August 29, 2012

NEW DELHI: Noida Software Technology Park Limited (NSTPL), part of the Jain TV Group, is planning to invest Rs 15 billion over five years in its Headend-In-The-Sky (HITS) project.

The HITS service, branded JainHITS, is set for a November launch coinciding with the digitisation deadline in the four metros of Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata and Chennai.

Speaking to Indiantelevision.com, Jain TV founder and chairman JK Jain said NSTPL is owned by two investors with Ankur Services having 87 per cent stake and Growth Fund with Jain Studios having the remaining 13 per cent. Ankur Services is privately held by JK Jain‘s son Ankur Jain who is also the managing director of JainHits.

NSTPL has roped in Motorola as the end-to-end technology partner, while Intelsat is the satellite provider for the service and KIT Digital the solution architect and managed services partner.

Intelsat has initially made available three transponders to carry 200 television channels, JK Jain said. The earth station of NSTPL is on a 23-acre area in Noida.

The digital addressable system installed through NSTPL will cost a mere Rs 1.5 million as against Rs 30 million. The entry cost to the subscriber will be Rs 950.

“Carriage fees will be shared with local cable operators (LCOs) who opt for JainHits service,” he said, while refusing to disclose the percentage that would be shared with them.

JainHits was officially launched today, more than two years after Essel Group-owned WWIL had shut its HITS service citing lack of clarity in regulations.

“JainHits is the cheapest alternative for cable operators who are fighting to save themselves from the DTH onslaught in the face of digitisation deadlines,” he added. The government has mandated 31 December 2014 as the deadline for switchover from analogue to digital cable systems across the country.

According to JK Jain, the cable operators in the country would have to spend around Rs 180 to Rs 300 billion for going digital but with the HITS service this could be achieved pan-India in just Rs 9 billion.

In the first phase, JainHits aims to offer 200 standard definition and high definition service; HBB TV (Interactive TV) and broadband. In the second phase, it will be scaled to offer 500 channels including 30 HD channels and value added services for e-commerce, education, healthcare, financial services, gaming, and on-demand content etc. Within one year of launch, the platform will evolve into a multi-screen service.

JainHits aims to facilitate 60,000 cable operators and 120 million subscribers three million terabits of downloads, e-education services for 300,000 villages, e-health for 300 million rural Indians, and 60 million daily electronic transactions.

Ankur Jain said the latest technology in DVB S2 MPEG 4 quality over satellite followed by DVBC transmission for cable would be used. These technologies are more suited for broadcast than IPTV and DTH as they are weather proof, capacity efficient and can run 1000 channels unlike DTH and IPTV.

Stephane Thibault, managing sales director, media services – Asia of Intelsat said that two Intelsat satellites – IS 17 at 66 degrees East ad IS 10 at 68.5 degrees east had been made available to JainHits and since they were positioned over India, dish antennae would just have to be positioned upwards without fear of signals being blocked by buildings.

Motorola Mobility VP and regional GM for Asia Pacific Kevin Keefe claimed that no other technology could be deployed as rapidly to meet India’s digital mandate, using existing HFC infrastructure. The growth in video services was estimated to be 4 per cent CAGR between 2011 and 2015.

Kit Digital MD Asia Pacific Nicole Dixon said Kit Digital would play the role of integrator. Its E2E solution would help distribute 500 channels.

Former Telecom Regulatory Authority of India head Pradip Baijal, who has come on board as advisor for the project, said the Indian market was very price sensitive but had the best technologies, especially in mobile networks.

JainHits would be promoted through personal contact. NSTPL also plans to form National Federation of Cable Operators.

Alsor read:

Jain TV Group plans HITS service, signs up with Intelsat
NSTPL’s HITS platform christened as Jain HITS

Applications

Moltbook, the AI-only social network, sparks hype, doubt and fear

Published

2 weeks ago

February 3, 2026

indiantelevision.com Team

CALIFORNIA: Moltbook, a Reddit-style social platform built exclusively for artificial intelligence agents, has emerged as the latest obsession in Silicon Valley, drawing intense attention for its explosive growth and surreal bot-driven interactions.

The platform hosts more than 100 communities where AI agents post, argue and joke about topics ranging from governance theory to esoteric “crayfish debugging” concepts. Within days of launch, Moltbook recorded tens of thousands of posts, nearly 200,000 comments and more than 1 million human visitors observing the activity.

Yet the numbers and the autonomy are under scrutiny, as per media reports. A security researcher has suggested as many as 500,000 accounts may trace back to a single address, raising doubts about Moltbook’s membership claims. Many posts could also be the result of humans instructing their AI tools to publish content, rather than bots acting independently.

The platform runs on agentic AI, powered by an open-source tool called OpenClaw, formerly known as Moltbot. Unlike chatbots such as ChatGPT or Gemini, these agents are designed to perform tasks on users’ devices, from sending messages to managing calendars, with minimal human input. Once authorised, they can interact freely on Moltbook.

Some tech figures have hailed the platform as a glimpse of a post-human internet. Head of crypto custody firm BitGo Bill Lees, called it evidence that “we’re in the singularity”.

Academics are less convinced. Petar Radanliev, an AI and cybersecurity expert at the University of Oxford, said the idea of agents acting independently was “misleading”, describing Moltbook instead as automated coordination within human-set constraints. Columbia Business School assistant professor David Holtz, dismissed the spectacle as “thousands of bots yelling into the void and repeating themselves”.

Beyond hype, security worries loom large. ESET global cybersecurity advisor Jake Moore, warned that granting AI agents access to emails, private messages and files risks prioritising efficiency over privacy. Andrew Rogoyski of the University of Surrey said high-level system access could lead to serious damage, from erased data to compromised company accounts.

Even OpenClaw’s founder Peter Steinberger, has felt the darker side of attention, with scammers hijacking his old social media handles after the platform’s rebrand.

For now, Moltbook remains a strange digital zoo: part experiment, part spectacle, where AI agents banter about philosophy, productivity and, occasionally, their fondness for their human operators.

Applications

Apple appoints Avtar Ram Singh as head of international marketing

Published

2 weeks ago

February 2, 2026

indiantelevision.com Team

CALIFORNIA: Apple has handed a bigger global brief to a long-time insider. Avtar Ram Singh has taken over as head of international marketing for the App Store, Apple Arcade and the Apple Games app, deepening his remit across one of the company’s fastest-growing businesses.

“I’m happy to share that I’m starting a new position as head of international marketing, App Store, Apple Arcade and Games App at Apple,” Singh said while announcing the move.

The promotion crowns nearly seven years at Apple, where Singh has led services marketing across Southeast Asia and India and previously served as head of marketing for Southeast Asia content and services, business lead for Apple Podcasts in the region and interim marketing lead for the App Store internationally.

His new portfolio spans three pillars of Apple’s services push. The App Store, which Apple positions as a safe and trusted discovery platform, now attracts more than 850 million average weekly users globally. Since 2008, developers have earned over $550 billion on the platform.

Apple Arcade, the company’s gaming subscription service, offers unlimited access to a catalogue ranging from brain teasers to big-name franchises. The recent addition of Sid Meier’s Civilization VII Arcade Edition brings a AAA PC title to iPhone, iPad and Mac from 5 February.

Then there is the Apple Games app, unveiled at WWDC as a unified destination for games from the App Store and Arcade. It aggregates titles in one place, surfaces personalised recommendations, tracks events and achievements, and lets users compete with friends or connect controllers for a console-like experience.

Singh arrives with a hybrid background in strategy, data and creativity. His career spans digital and social media marketing, business intelligence, content, editorial and analytics across culturally diverse markets. He has worked on brands including P&G, Accor, Audi, UBS, Nikon, Samsung, Sony, Pizza Hut, HBO and Singapore Airlines-linked businesses such as Scoot.

Before Apple, Singh led strategy at Falcon Agency, focusing on performance marketing and ROI-driven digital frameworks. He earlier ran the social practice at Publicis Singapore, where he oversaw operations, business development and regional social strategy for multinational clients. His career also includes roles at Ogilvy-linked Circus Social, Rocket Internet ventures Lazada and Zalora, and research firm IDC in Bangkok, where he analysed technology markets and won early awards for collaboration and client retention.

At Apple, he has been close to several service launches and expansions, including Apple Fitness+ in Singapore, Apple Creator Studio, global podcast subscriptions and new App Store marketing tools.

The timing is notable. Apple’s services business has posted record years, and gaming is becoming a sharper battleground as platforms chase engagement and recurring revenue. Singh’s brief sits at the intersection of content, community and commerce.

In a market where attention is scarce and loyalty scarcer, Apple is betting that sharper storytelling and smarter marketing can keep users inside its ecosystem. Singh now holds the megaphone. The real test will be how loudly the world listens.

Applications

Cloud nine in the capital Bharathcloud plugs Delhi into its AI plans

Published

3 weeks ago

January 30, 2026

indiantelevision.com Team

MUMBAI: Bharathcloud is bringing its cloud closer to power. The Hyderabad-based sovereign AI cloud services provider has opened its Delhi office, marking its formal entry into North India and setting the stage for its next phase of growth.

The expansion comes as India’s digital transformation fuels rising demand for AI-ready cloud infrastructure, driven by wider adoption of artificial intelligence, machine learning, the Internet of Things and data-heavy applications. With the new office, Bharathcloud plans to onboard more than 100 employees in 2026, strengthening its workforce to support customers across government, enterprises, MSMEs and social sectors.

The Delhi presence is expected to sharpen the company’s engagement with organisations seeking secure, scalable and cost-efficient cloud platforms that comply with India’s data sovereignty requirements. It also positions Bharathcloud closer to policy, public sector and enterprise decision-makers in the region.

Founded in Hyderabad, Bharathcloud offers AI-ready cloud infrastructure including Kubernetes-as-a-Service, zero-trust security architecture and multi-level data protection frameworks. Its platform supports AI and ML workloads, blockchain application migration from hyperscalers and distributed data management, with an emphasis on reliability, low latency and operational continuity.

“With the Delhi expansion, we are positioning Bharathcloud to engage more closely with AI-driven enterprises and technology hubs in North India,” said Bharathcloud co-founder Rahul Takallapally. He added that the move would help nurture local cloud and AI talent while accelerating the adoption of secure and resilient AI infrastructure across sectors.

The company currently operates in Hyderabad, Bengaluru, Mumbai, Kolkata, Lucknow and Chennai, employing over 200 people and serving more than 1,500 clients across manufacturing, healthcare, financial services, IT and media. Aligned with national initiatives such as Digital India and Make in India, Bharathcloud continues to focus on building indigenous AI-cloud infrastructure to support data localisation and the country’s growing appetite for next-generation digital solutions.

With its Delhi office now live, the company is signalling a clear intent: to make sovereign, AI-ready cloud infrastructure not just an alternative, but a mainstream choice for India’s north as well as its tech capitals.