Thread: TATA SKY charges a bomb for transfer

Dear friends,

I currently have a grey color STB with composite output, whereas TS have now introduced a black color STB for 1599 which has component output. I have a LCD TV & want to buy black STB as component output will look better on my LCD TV.

I spoke to TS in this regard & this is what they told me :

1) TS said that they do not have any upgrade option. I have to buy the new STB & pay full money of Rs 1599 . no use of being a old customer.

2) I asked Tata Sky regarding change of ownership for STB, as i know someone who wants to buy Tata Sky.
TS said that total charge would be 850 as follows :
1) Rs. 350 : for change of installation site (shifting of STB & Antenna)
2) Rs. 500 : Change of ownership name in their records !!!!!!!!!!!!!

I argued with them that change of ownership simply involves changing the name & registered address in their software database & documentation. For such a petty thing, these ediots are charging 500 bucks (more than re-installation charges where physical labor, materials etc. are involved) which in my opinion is total bullshit.

THey simply want to "lock-in" customers & discourage people wanting to opt out of TS & re-sell their STB's. New STB costs 1599, which makes reselling unfeasible / less cost effective from seller / buyer point of view. Also, they do not have any buy back offer for the STB,which means money once spent is lost.

If i switch over to another DTH, I have to spend the same amount of money for another STB and so on. (thus also increasing the "electronic garbage.")

I agree that most of the DTH operators operate in a similar fashion, but i guess its high time that TRAI wakes up & expeditiously implements DTH portability.

Originally Posted by tusharch

I agree that most of the DTH operators operate in a similar fashion, but i guess its high time that TRAI wakes up & expeditiously implements DTH portability.

Lol: If DTH set top boxes portability is introduced then too Tatasky customers will have only one option that is DishTv

Both Tatasky and Dishtv offer set top boxes with MPEG2 video compression while Airtel’s Digital TV, Reliance’s Big TV, Sun Direct offer MPEG4, a more advanced technology.

Originally Posted by deepmohan

Both Tatasky and Dishtv offer set top boxes with MPEG2 video compression while Airtel’s Digital TV, Reliance’s Big TV, Sun Direct offer MPEG4, a more advanced technology.

Newer STB's from Tata Sky do have MPEG4. I am not sure about DISH.
But these ediots use MPEG4's better compression to squeeze in more channels in the same bandwidth, rather than improving the quality !!!!!

Only new STB's being supplied are MPEG4 Compatible, what about millions of customers those who have older STB's for sure they are going to suffer.

TataSky's black STB as well as TataSky+ are MPEG4 compatible whereas the old TS (white-gray) STB is MPEG2. Airtel, BigTV, Sun-DTH, Videocon D2H, all are on MPEG4.

Note that MPEG4 STBs are backward compatible with MPEG2 also, i.e., their have the decoders, codecs built into the hardware.

DishTV is the loner in the arena and on pure MPEG2 only.

MPEG4 will not and will never improve quality - this must be understood. MPEG4 is just an advanced and better compression method. Only HD and Full HD can improve quality. I have Blu-Ray discs - some of which are MPEG4/AVC but quite a few are in the older MPEG2 format also.

Tusharach has raised some valid points. DTH market is still evolving. In the US/UK/etc., all CPE (dish, STB, cabling, installation) is free or with minimal cost but one has to sign a minimum one year contract with some standard (not minimal) package. The same will be available soon in India soon. At the moment, the providers are finding enough new customers (suckers?) for their products.

Once the organic growth ie new DTH users groth rates come down which would only happen when the majority would have DTH connections in place thats when these DTH service providers will start biting into each other's market share by reducing the initial costs then it wont matter how they do it may be one year contracts and no set top box cost to the customer or just sell the set top box without making a profit out of the hardware and concentrating on revenue generation by getting more subscribers.

DTH portability is not such a major issue really as unlike mobile phone numbers you dont have a number to identify yourself and thats why the only obsticle in 100% portability is the initial cost of moving to another company... this gap will be filled once they all start providing the basic box free with certain period's contract as Just4kix said.

Icontrol (Mtnl IPTV) is being advertised a lot these days and I see the new DTH players also trying to bite into the pie with all they have got... SUN coming up with HD transmission of some channels so yes competetion is picking up for good. Things will only get better from here with more and more special offers and what not.

Originally Posted by tusharch

Newer STB's from Tata Sky do have MPEG4. I am not sure about DISH.
But these ediots use MPEG4's better compression to squeeze in more channels in the same bandwidth, rather than improving the quality !!!!!

Tata Sky Normal Stb's are only MPEG 2 the don't have MPEG4 for normal STB whether its Black ot Gray.

Incorrect or partly correct and misleading info, neo001. TataSky is using MPEG2 for broadcast but the black STB and TataSky+ STB are both MPEG4 ready.

I just moved to a new house, TS charged me Rs 350 Installation and Rs 200 for additional wire( max 5 meters extra)!

Originally Posted by tusharch

Dear friends,

I currently have a grey color STB with composite output, whereas TS have now introduced a black color STB for 1599 which has component output. I have a LCD TV & want to buy black STB as component output will look better on my LCD TV.

I spoke to TS in this regard & this is what they told me :

1) TS said that they do not have any upgrade option. I have to buy the new STB & pay full money of Rs 1599 . no use of being a old customer.

2) I asked Tata Sky regarding change of ownership for STB, as i know someone who wants to buy Tata Sky.
TS said that total charge would be 850 as follows :
1) Rs. 350 : for change of installation site (shifting of STB & Antenna)
2) Rs. 500 : Change of ownership name in their records !!!!!!!!!!!!!

I argued with them that change of ownership simply involves changing the name & registered address in their software database & documentation. For such a petty thing, these ediots are charging 500 bucks (more than re-installation charges where physical labor, materials etc. are involved) which in my opinion is total bullshit.

THey simply want to "lock-in" customers & discourage people wanting to opt out of TS & re-sell their STB's. New STB costs 1599, which makes reselling unfeasible / less cost effective from seller / buyer point of view. Also, they do not have any buy back offer for the STB,which means money once spent is lost.

If i switch over to another DTH, I have to spend the same amount of money for another STB and so on. (thus also increasing the "electronic garbage.")

I agree that most of the DTH operators operate in a similar fashion, but i guess its high time that TRAI wakes up & expeditiously implements DTH portability.

Tata Sky black box are MPEG4 compatible as it is a kind of compression technology and has nothing to do with video quality there is no need to buy a new STB. In case of buying a new STB it is equivalent to new connection, even child connections with parent connection cost hence it is not a question of old or new customers charged but a general cost for new STB. Transfer of ownership should have a minute amount but should be borne by the new subscriber in whose name it is being transferred this will exempt any charge from you (the current owner). Standard charges do imply on installation and transport of the hardware to the new location. Customer has the right to choose, in electronic item if you will check that no item has a good resale value and in the rarest case can one make profit from resale but till you have possession of the STB you can keep it with you as sometimes the technician might ask it back but you have all right to the STB as you own it such pieces usually get refurbished.

Agreed... Tata Sky is a nightmare too.. I stay in pune and daily face a lot of problems. Major problem is Customer Care Service doesnt care about customers. {My telephone bill increased by Rs300 which is more than my monthly Tata Sky DTH plan} Lol.. I am having a lot of problem with my STB. It restarts automatically every 10 to 15 minutes. Sound control doesnt work... and it also has a major signal receiving problem. Tata Sky is not as clear as Airtel or Videocon D2H. They offer MPG4 whereas Tata Sky doesnt. Many friends of mine had Tata Sky at their places that's why I also subscribed for the same. But my friends are also facing a lot of problems and switching to Videocon or Airtel. When Tata sky was launched they were distributing better STBs but now every STB has the same problems.

I will recommend Tata Sky only if you have a lot of "Black" money and a lot of time and patience to track customer service guys. Also, if you have kids who watch TV all the time, get Tata Sky.. they will lose their patience very soon and start studying..