Direct to Home (DTH) operator Sun Direct has today revised its network capacity fee (NCF) to offer industry lowest prices in the DTH market at Rs 50. The change kicked into effect early morning which is reflective on the website. The prices of the curated packages however continue to remain the same as they always offered deep discounts compared to other DTH operators.
Sun Direct will now charge a maximum of Rs 59 inclusive of applicable taxes as its network capacity fee. The network capacity fee will be the same whether you choose less than 200 SD channels or more than 200 SD channels.
| Number of Channels | Old NCF (inclusive of taxes) | New NCF (inclusive of taxes) |
|---|---|---|
| Less than 200 SD channels | Rs 153.4 | Rs 59 |
| More than 200 SD channels | Rs 188.8 | Rs 59 |
Sun Direct has further reduced the multi-TV network capacity fee as well in line with the TRAI NTO 2.0 regulations which mandates capping of the multi-TV NCF at 40% of the primary connection.
The reduction in primary connection NCF mandated Sun Direct to revise multi-TV NCF which now stands at Rs 23.60 inclusive of applicable taxes.
| Number of Channels | Old Multi-TV NCF (inclusive of taxes) | New Multi-TV NCF (inclusive of taxes) |
|---|---|---|
| Less than 200 SD channels | Rs 61.36 | Rs 23.6 |
| More than 200 SD channels | Rs 75.52 | Rs 23.6 |
The multi-TV NCF again is capped at Rs 23.60 irrespective of you choosing less than 200 SD channels or more than 200 SD channels. Pertinent to note that the cost of the curated package continues to more or less remain the same as Sun Direct has since the inception of the New Tariff Order offered deep discounts on its curated packages.
What happens if they decide to increase this fee after 6 months (example). Will existing owners continue to pay low fee or will be stuck with high fee and expensive set up.
You have to pay the new fee. They however have been offering deep discounts on DPO packages since NTO inception. But yes no guarantee if they will stick with it or not in the future.
Will cable tv groups like gtpl or other dth companies will reduce their ncf and in which term they r doing this?
Sun Direct focuses on select markets only so you might see discounted packages in those areas. I don’t expect much changes in NCF from cable TV or DTH operator.