By Jonathan Easton
While the market is proving increasingly lucrative for foreign streaming players, India’s DTH industry has shrunk.
According to the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI), the sector decreased by 1.42 million subscribers during the first quarter of 2021.
Pay DTH has attained a total active subscriber base of around 69.57 million in the quarter ending 31st March 2021.
This was however down from a 2020 peak of 70.99 million subscribers at the end of the year, and the lowest subscriber total since Q3 2019 when the sector was at 69.3 million.
In terms of the current makeup of the DTH sector, there are four service providers. Tata Sky is the largest, with a 33.3 per cent market share, followed by Bharti Telemedia with 25.54 per cent, Dish TV India with 24.09 per cent and Sun Direct TV at 17.07 per cent.
The report also noted that the country had achieved 100 per cent digitisation of Cable TV networks, making India the only large country where the feat has been achieved through mandatory regulations. Siti Networks is the largest cable operator with 8.25 million subscribers
