Airtel digital TV’s new service offers a range of 70 channels to choose from. This satellite TV service in the bus with multi-TV screens will allow passengers to watch their respective choice of programmes and change channels according
to their wish.
The service uses a mobile signal-tracking antenna from Raysat. To offer this service, Airtel has appointed Integrated Consultancy Services as its system integrator. The company will target state transports, private luxury bus operators and SUVs with this service. However, at present, the service will not be available in an aircraft as a different kind of antenna is required to deliver the content in air.
Airtel has been allowed to wire up to 49 seats in a bus by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI)
Sugato Banerjee, Chief Marketing Officer, DTH Services – Bharti Airtel, says, “Time spent in ground transport is increasing across India as road networks improve and as traffic density in urban areas increases. We saw this travel time and instance opportunity as a potential category to expand our DTH services to.”
At present, the company has not made the pay-per-view (PPV) service available on these bus services. Despite this, passengers can satiate their appetite for movies through various channels. But do DTH players need to purchase special rights from producers for this service? Bhatt remarks, “Definitely! Since the content is showcased across a new platform, the rightful permission and rights should be purchased. DTH was itself a new platform a few days ago and now tertiary channels like in-bus entertainment have appeared. But since these are new and emerging business models, we still need to work things out.”
Banerjee explains “What we are showing in the bus is standard broadcast content. The difference is, instead of delivering content to living rooms, we are delivering it to seats in a bus. It’s a linear channel that we are turning around and pushing back into the back-of-the-bus seat. But in an aircraft, only PPV content is aired.”