(7 October 2006 9:00 pm)

MUMBAI:The Rajan Raheja promoted Hathway Cable & Datacom has teamed up with the dominant cable operator in Jhansi and launched services under the name Hathway JMD SR Cable & Datacom Pvt. Ltd.

SR Network started its operations in December 2004 and it provides cable TV services to the entire city of Jhansi.

Hathway will provide over 90 analogue television channels to its subscribers. The cable service company will soon be launching 'voice over cable' services, which will enable the MSO to be a true 'triple player' with digital, high speed internet and voice services, according to an official statement.

The deal Hathway has struck with SR Network is similar to the one it entered into in Kanpur in April where it operates as a joint venture with Jai Mata Di Sherawali (Sanjeev Dikshit promoter) under the brand name Hathway Jai Mata Di Sherawali Cable & Datacom Pvt. Ltd. Hathway JMD has subsequently started operations in Farukhabad and Unnav.

Starting with Kanpur, Hathway plans to take the digital revolution forward gradually in other cities in the state of Uttar Pradesh. Kanpur will be the first city in UP which will provide Digital Cable TV transmission from December 2006.

Hathway's Digital Cable TV services are presently available in Chennai, Mumbai, New Delhi, Pune, Bangalore , Hyderabad, Chandigarh and Jalandhar.

The digital services are offered through a remote controlled digital device called the Set Top Box. The digital device is feature packed and it changes the entire TV viewing experience for the subscriber. The key features include DVD picture quality, stereophonic sound, a capacity to receive more than 1000 channels, an EPG (Electronic Programme Guide) which enables programme reservations & reminders, positioning of favourite channels, parental control, information banner and selection of channels by genre etc.

The other value added services such as video-on-Demand, interactive gamming etc. are also available with Hathway's digital set top box.

Apart from Analogue Cable TV and Digital Cable TV services, Hathway provides Cable Broadband services with high - speed connectivity from 256 Kbps onwards through the high bandwidth capability of cable. Hathway's Broadband Internet is presently available in the cities of New Delhi, Jalandhar, Ludhiana, Mumbai, Pune, Nashik, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Chennai, Mysore and Chandigarh.

Hathway also has under its umbrella Cine Channel (CCC), a movie based entertainment channel and I-TV a dial - up interactive music channel that operates like a juke box and local channels like Win Cable & Win Movies.