Airtel Digital TV, the DTH arm of Bharti Airtel, has an individual Multi TV policy in place for all the customers with secondary connections. For the unaware, Multi TV policy is something that will be applicable for all the secondary connections getting activated under the same account in a home. For now, DTH operators like Tata Sky, D2h, Dish TV and Airtel Digital TV are offering Multi TV connections to the customers, however, the charges are different as Trai has left it to operators whether to charge full NCF or discounted NCF on the secondary connection. Dish TV and D2h are charging Rs 50 NCF for every secondary connection, but in the case of Airtel Digital TV, the charges are Rs 80 for every connection excluding taxes. Tata Sky is charging Rs 153 NCF for every secondary connection and it's the premium Multi TV operator right now.
Airtel Digital TV Multi TV Charges Detailed
After the new tariff regime by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) came into effect, every customer is now paying Rs 153 as Network Capacity Fee (NCF) charges besides the a-la-carte channels they choose for watching. The regulator has left it to the operators on how much NCF they can charge for Multi TV connections, but it suggested them to discount the NCF. On the same lines, D2h & Dish TV and Airtel Digital TV are charging discounted NCF from the customers who own a secondary connection.
Talking about Airtel Digital TV, the company is charging Rs 80 (excluding taxes) as the charges for NCF. Furthermore, it states "Additional NCF of Rs.20/- (taxes extra) will be applicable for subsequent slots of 25 SD channels over and above the 100 channels."
On the brighter side, Airtel Digital TV is allowing its users to choose the channel packs of their own. For example, a user can choose only one paid channel in the secondary connection and the NCF of Rs 80 will be charged. Earlier, Tata Sky just allowed users to mirror the channels of primary connection on the secondary connection as well, but it has changed the policy as well now.
Airtel Digital TV, Tata Sky, D2h and Dish TV Multi TV Policies Compared
Right now, four DTH operators- Airtel Digital TV, Tata Sky, D2h & Dish TV India are offering Multi TV connections to the subscribers. Tata Sky is the premium Multi TV operator as users are being charged Rs 153 (including taxes) for every secondary connection they own. For example, if a Tata Sky user has three secondary connections, then they will have to pay Rs 153 NCF charges for all the three connections and the primary connection as well.
On the flip side, D2h and Dish TV are charging Rs 50 (excluding taxes) NCF charges for every secondary connection and Airtel Digital TV has Rs 80 discounted NCF charges applicable for every Multi TV connection.
That being said, all four DTH operators are allowing customers to choose their own channels on the secondary connection. As mentioned above, Tata Sky used to force customers to watch just the channels that were selected on the primary connection, but under the new Tata Sky Room TV service, it's also allowing users to choose channels packs of their own on the secondary connection.
