India Broadband Forum

Preeti_20

Are you in the process of choosing your DTH service provider? You are very likely to be confused with regard to choosing the best DTH service. Previously when DTH services were introduced in India, things were much simpler there were just two DTH service providers namely Dish TV and Tata Sky so choosing between the one or the other was easier for the DTH customers. Today that is not the case there are number of DTH service providers in the Indian DTH market such as Sun DTH, Big TV, Airtel DTH, besides Dish TV and Tata Sky. Added to this a couple of new service providers will be jumping into this bandwagon. Videocon DTH will be launched soon and BSNL is also planning to launch its own DTH services.

When you compare all the DTH service providers you will see that there are lot of variations in the cost, features and quality of customer service. You will also find lot of variations in the monthly channel packages offered by each DTH service provider.

In terms of cost, Sun DTH is the most competitively priced service provider. Next comes Big TV, Airtel, Dish TV and Tata Sky would fall under the higher end of the pricing scale. You need to carefully review the costs DTH service providers will club the cost of STB or set top box, dish and installation charges. Some of them also include free monthly packages. You must therefore take into consideration all the factors and you should not therefore blindly compare the price. What seems to be the cheapest DTH service can actually be an expensive service provider. So do not allow yourself to be confused or misled by the tricky DTH plans. Secondly, you must also take into consideration the ongoing charges or the monthly expenses that you should incur. By far Sun Direct DTH is the cheapest service provider both in terms of initial cost and the monthly channel packages.

The next important factor is the quality of the signals. For most of us who have been used to cable TV, DTH services in general will come as a great treat for the eyes. You will be able to see a great difference in the quality of the signals you receive. Among the DTH service providers Sun DTH and Big TV uses MPEG 4 technology. But signal quality, picture quality and audio quality is better in Big TV when compared to Sun TV. Tata Sky, Dish and Airtel too excel in terms of the picture and audio quality. In terms of user interface, Sun DTH offers a very basic user interface that matches to their price.

With regard to customer service, Big TV is highly coordinated. Tata Sky and Dish TV customer support need improvement in this area. If you are interested in lot of music channels, you should opt for Airtel DTH as you get access to World Space channels. In terms of other value add services Sun DTH is very limited but it is one of the most cost-effective options.

Sumit020

Nice article! But Big TV keeps it's logo on all channel, which is annoying...

just4kix

There are factual errors or some information that could mislead. Otherwise this is a good article.

• Sun DTH is indeed the cheapest when it comes to basic package subscription. But the basic pack, well, it is very very basic. It is just a little better than the FTA channels provided by Prasar Bharati. So like it or not, most (98%) will have to opt for other add-on packages and that is when the package cost will rise phenomenonally.
• The article has completely ignored Videocon D2H.
• For those who wish to have all major mainstream channels, Videocon D2H is the cheapest of all.
• Sun DTH is currently the only DTH provider broadcasting HD signals. But BigTV is expected to follow very soon.
• In the article above, it is mentioned that BigTV has good service.
  
  Quote:

  With regard to customer service, Big TV is highly coordinated

  I beg to differ. BigTV still remains the worst amongst the CC department. Further, the article says:
  
  Quote:

  Tata Sky and Dish TV customer support need improvement in this area.

  Quite the opposite, let me assure you.
• In terms of quality, BigTV has the best video quality followed by TataSky, DishTV/ Airtel Digital. I have not seen Sun DTH or Videocon DTH - so I cannot compare.
• Finally about Worldspace Radio provided by Airtel Digital. Please remove this consideration completely. Worldspace will be filing for bankruptcy soon and hence the service may stop.

Please visit this article: DishTV vs TataSky vs BigTV.

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rajan1311

World space has already stopped. I still have 4 months of subscription and i still don't get radio, same with all my friends who have it.