Dish TV brings DTH portability with 'Freedom'

NEW DELHI, INDIA: Dish TV made DTH portability a reality with the launch of Dish Freedom, a conditional access module (CAM) device.

Dish Freedom will enable DTH customers to opt for Dish TV's service instead of existing DTH operator without changing set-top boxes.

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Jawahar Goel, MD, Dish TV India, said, “TRAI mandates inter-operability in the DTH licensing norms and it is obligatory for all operators to offer inter-operable set top boxes. Being the trend setters in the industry, we are proud to launch the country’s first CAM device that will be a momentous landmark in the Indian DTH chapter.”

The device, being launched in select key markets, is priced at Rs. 990 and is bundled with an annual subscription of Dish Freedom pack of 95 channels and services worth Rs. 600.

Salil Kapoor, COO, Dish TV India, said: “About 20 per cent of the 33 million DTH subscribers in the country are estimated to be inactive. This is a substantial dormant market segment that we will target as our customer base for ‘Dish Freedom’. Being the only player offering CAM services, we aim to add the inactive base in metros and smaller cities to our over 11 million strong family. Consumers can now access to Dish TV’s quality services without having to invest in a new set top box. We feel that the attractive pricing plus ease of installation will be very attractive to these consumers.”

Dish Freedom can be inserted into the card port on all BIS compliant set top boxes with a CI slot (as is mandated by TRAI). It will work on all kinds of DTH platforms including MPEG2 & MPEG4.