(28 December 2006 12:30 am)

MUMBAI: The price war is on. Hinduja-owned Incablenet announced its bouquet options to subscribers in the Cas (conditional access system) areas of Mumbai and Delhi, retaliating against rival offers from direct-to-home (DTH) service providers and other multi-system operators (MSOs).

Subscribers can own their digital set-top box (STB) at Rs 1500 (plus taxes) and will be provided free cable TV subscription for six months on three bouquet packages. Incidentally, DTH operator Tata Sky has come out with an offer in Cas areas of free subscription for six months if customers book during the period 28 December-10 January.

For those who want Incablenet's Sitara (Star) package, 18 pay channels will be available including all the 12 Star India distributed channels. Besides CNBC TV18, CNBC Awaaz, CNN-IBN and BBC, customers will have the liberty to choose a single channel each from the Zee-Turner and SET-Discovery bouquets.

In the Sona (Gold) package, Incablenet is offering 20 channels. This includes 13 Sony channels, CNN-IBN, CNBC TV18, CNBC Awaaz and two channels each from the Zee-Turner and Star bouquets.

The Zabardast scheme has on offer 35 channels which include 33 Zee channels. Sunscribers can also choose a single channel each from the Sony and Star bouquets.

Neither of the three packages have sports channels included in them. "We are offering consumers total choice from all the three distribution platorms. They can select a Star-loaded or Sony or Zee package. We have covered all the categories and consumers can plan their monthly cable bills," said IndusInd Media and Communications Ltd director-in-charge Ravi Mansukhani.

Wire & Wireless Ltd (WWIL) has on offer outright purchase of STBs for Rs 1800 inclusive of a one-year subscription for 33 channels. These include a load of Zee-Turner and SET-Discovery distributed channels like Zee TV, Zee Cinema, Zee Smile, Zee News, Zee Trendz, Zee Jagran, Sony, Discovery, Animal Planet, Animax, Pix, Sab and MTV. Only Star Plus from the Star bouquet is being offered. BBC, CNBC TV18, CNBC Awaaz and Cartoon Network are also available in this package.

"We have a complete package including the regional channels. In Mumbai we are offering Zee Marathi while in Delhi it is Zee Punjabi and in Kolkata Zee Bangla. ETV Urdu and ETV Telugu are also available while consumers have a choice to take any other ETV channel of their choice. For Mumbai, ETV Marathi is free," said WWIL CEO Jagjit Kohli.

Under the STB rental scheme, Incablenet is offering the Optimiser package at Rs 120 which will have the Star and Sony bouquets. For the second TV set, the subscription is Rs 55.

In the Super Saver scheme, the Star, Sony and Zee bouquets are available at a price of Rs 190. The second TV set will be priced at Rs 100.

Subscribers do not have to pay a deposit amount on the Rs 45 rental scheme, Mansukhani said.

Hathway Cable & Datacom has not come out with an outright purchase scheme for the STBs. Neither has the MSO included the Zee-Turner channels in its packages. "We haven't decided yet on the STB purchase scheme. As for the Zee channels, once we arrive at a settlement with them, we will be creating a new package," said Hathway Cable & Datacom MD and CEO K Jayaraman.

Also Read:MSOs to form bouquets for CAS, Hathway leads the way

WWIL announces Rs 1800 package for Cas