I received this PM which I thought should be a question to many others as well:
I will reply in detail - meanwhile I leave the thread open for discussion.
projenator,
DTH is
usually better than cable, and
definitely better than analogue cable. Now cable is also becoming digital and many drawbacks of analog cable (weak signals, picture/sound quality, snowy channels, single language, etc.) will go away. To have digital cable at home, an STB is required. But even after digital cable, the inherent issue with cable operator (monopolistic behaviour, random changes to subscription, channels disappearing because operation has not paid to content providers, etc.) will still remain.
As far as cable operator asking for Rs. 1800 for STB, this is very fair. That should not be the cause of complaint.
- You are right in saying that DTH providers also have their own sets of issues.
- First of all, DTH is not immune to price changes; but they occur less frequently.
- Some DTH providers are a nightmare in terms of customer support. But problems in DTH rarely occur.
- DTH is more costly than cable when comparing package to package.
Now DishTV is often reported to be the worst but I had been their customer for 4 years and I did not face major issues and when I did, my problems were rectified within promised SLA. So do not always go by what others say or what I say. Take an informed decision. Also don't agree with your assessment that DishTV has pathetic technology. TataSky has slight better PQ than DishTV but DishTV is not bad; especially when SD is concerned. Airtel is good also. The cheapest is Videocon D2H and they have very good packages.
I will say that moving to DTH will be better in the long run; especially if your cable is getting interrupted every now and then. My main reasons of shifting to DTH were as follows:
- I was tired of the signal quality
- In those days (2006), there used to be 3 hour power outages in the city, section by section; so during outage in my area, I used to be blank for 3 hours and my cable operator in the adjacent area had power cut; so in effect I used to get cable outage for 6 hours.
- Cable prices were random. I lived in a slightly upmarket area and was being charged Rs. 325 pm but in the neighbouring densely populated area the same operator was charging Rs. 220.
You will alone be able to make a correct assessment of the situation. See what you are getting and what it is going to cost. Make a cost/benefit analysis and then arrive at a decision.