Airtel digital TV slashes prices of set top boxes

Its competitor, Tata Sky, had slashed prices of STBs to Rs 999 last month and the move might compel other players to follow suit as operators are looking at huge sales in the upcoming festive season.

New customers can purchase a new connection for Rs 999, which will include the installation and get started with an initial recharge of Rs 200, Airtel digital TV said in a statement.

"We believe that these offers will provide yet another compelling reason for customers to join the growing Airtel digital TV family. By significantly bring down the Total Cost of Ownership, these offers will make it more easier for more customers, to move to the next generation home entertainment options like Airtel digital TV," Bharti Airtel CMO (DTH) Sugato Banerji said.

Also, customers can purchase a new connection for Rs 1,690, which will include four months free subscription as well. Airtel digital TV claims to have has 3.8 million customers.

According to sectoral regulator TRAI, six DTH licensees (excluding DD Direct) reported subscriber base of 23.77 million (for the quarter ended June 2010) as against 21.3 million at the end of March 2010, indicating an increasing popularity of the service.

Apart from the free DTH service of Doordarshan, there are six private DTH licensees -- Dish TV, Tata Sky, Sun Direct, Airtel digital TV, Reliance BIG TV and Videocon d2h.