DTH WANNABE INTRODUCES INTERNET SERVICES
The Sterling group's C. Sivasankaran, who
is one of the main contenders to flag off an Indian DTH
television operation, has introduced an Internet access
service, Dishnet in the west Indian city of Pune. It has
priced Internet access at a dirt cheap Rs 995 for 100 hours,
one-third the tariffs charged by the government-owned VSNL
and MTNL, and other private service providers.
Dishnet has branded its service as education-to-home (ETH),
and Sivasankaran plans to distribute it via telephone, cable
and satellite, whenever the latter two options become possible
in India. Sivasankaran had taken an option for six transponders
on the Singapore-Taiwan-owned satellite ST-1 last year to
launch a DTH television package for India. He was also in
talks with several hardware manufacturers for DTH kits.
Sivasankaran has committed that he will
launch a bunch of education-oriented television channels
on his DTH service, which has been branded ETH too.
