Similar to the telecom industry, the DTH industry has also become a little competitive owing to the latest regulatory changes from the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai). The DTH operators are also fighting for the top spot and there seem to be changes in the subscriber market share. Some of the most popular DTH operators in the race obviously include Tata Sky, Dish TV and more. However, Bharti Airtel’s DTH arm is also in this list, and it is offering something which the other DTH operators are not offering, and even if they are the subscribers do not have a lot of choices about them. The things that we are talking about are the long-term channel packs, which were caught in regulatory controversy during the shift to the new Trai tariff regime. However, with the new regime in implementation, now Airtel Digital TV has started offering these long-term plans, and the subscribers can opt them for making some savings on their DTH subscription.
Airtel Digital TV Long-Term Channel Packs
The subscribers of Airtel Digital TV will have the option of subscribing to these long term channel packs for 6 months or 11 months. While subscribing for 6 months, the subscribers of Airtel Digital TV will get 15 days of free service days. In contrast, for a subscription of 11 months, the subscribers will get 30 free service days meaning that on getting an 11-month subscription, the customers enjoy a free month from Airtel Digital TV.
The list of these long-term channel packs from Airtel Digital TV starts with the Dabangg Sports pack, which would cost the subscribers Rs 290 per month if taken on a monthly basis. The 6 months and the 12 months subscription of this pack costs Rs 1,681 and Rs 3,081 respectively. The secondary connection of this plan would cost the subscribers Rs 220 per month.
There is also the Value Sports Lite which retails for Rs 332 per month and costs Rs 1,994 and Rs 3,654 for the period of 6 months and 11 months respectively. The secondary connection on this plan would cost Rs 273. Other plans from Airtel Digital TV which can be subscribed to for long term include the Value Sports Pack which is available for Rs 360 per month, the secondary connection of this plan is available for Rs 277 per month. The 6 months and 11-month subscription for this plan is going to cost Rs 2,164 and Rs 3,964.
There are also a handful of HD plans from Airtel Digital TV which are available for 6 months or 11 months validity, and these include Dabangg Sports HD pack, Value Sports Lite HD. There is also a Mega Pack HD from Airtel Digital TV which is available for Rs 699 per month, Rs 4,204 for 6 months and Rs 7,697 for the entire year.
Where Do Other Operators Stand?
It is worth noting that the other operators like Tata Sky also used to offer such long-term channel packs to their subscribers, but Tata Sky seems to have cut down on its long-term channel packs and these packs are only available for select languages like Malayalam. Whereas, other DTH operators like Sun Direct, do not offer such packs. Some DTH operators do offer a long-term subscription option, with free validity for a certain period with set prices.
