After a long stream of combo packs, add-on packs, recommended packs the DTH operators are coming up with a new kind of offering for the subscribers of their services who are migrating to the new Trai tariff regime. These are the Basic Service Tier packs. Now unlike the other packs in the providers’ portfolio which bundle paid or FTA channels in different selections and choices to cater to the different demands of the consumers, these Basic Service Tier (BST) packs only bundle the Free to Air (FTA) channels and cost Rs 153 which is the fee for the first hundred FTA channels across all providers. Just like the combo packs of all DTH providers, these BST packs also come in different choices with different genre-emphasis or based on language. Recently, D2h came out with its BST pack which included many FTA packs divided based on languages, now Airtel Digital TV has debuted a whole new line-up of channel packs on its website which comes in many genres, channel quality and BST options.
New Airtel Digital TV Packs
The new base packs which have been introduced by Airtel Digital TV are available in the Selfcare section of the Airtel Digital TV website. Like we mentioned above, the packs have been differently curated based on viewership. Like there is the AP Mega HD pack for Rs 436, AP Mega SD pack of Rs 320, AP My Family HD pack of Rs 365, AP My Family SD pack of Rs 275, AP Value Lite HD pack for Rs 180, AP Value Lite SD pack of Rs 140, AP Value Plus HD pack of Rs 275, AP Value SD sports pack for Rs 213.
Similarly, there are packs available on DEL MP CG RAJ, Gujarati packs and Karnataka packs. Under the BST banner, there are two new debuts which are BST ROI Pack, and BST South Pack. Both of these BST packs come with 100 channels and cost Rs 153. As for the other packs, the prices listed on the website are without NCF charges. Airtel Digital TV subscribers can check out these new packs via My Airtel app.
Pricing of BST Packs
To reiterate, the Basic Service Tier pack is a convenient way for the subscribers of DTH providers to get all the free channels which they can relevant to their languages and genres in the same Rs 153 fee. However, it can also be said that with the curation of recommended packs by the DTH providers, it is likely that the consumers might opt for other packs instead of BST packs. Also, if the consumers fill up their NCF with the FTA channels for all of their 100 channels, then they will have to pay for additional NCF separately when they add pay channels to their carts, thus increasing their monthly costing.
Therefore, most subscribers are expected to select pay channels and then add select FTA channels to their selection to keep the pricing of their subscription low.
