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Bharti plans IPTV launch, UTStarcom the technology partner
MUMBAI: Sunil Mittal has serious ambitions of entering the triple play arena. Having built a strong mobile phone business, he is quietly working on a project that would enable Bharti to offer video content through its telephone lines.
Bharti has installed a digital headend in Gurgaon on the outskirts of Delhi. The test run is on with a clutch of free-to-air (FTA) TV channels and other video content.
UTStarcom is building the entire IPTV architecture for Bharti. This includes the headend and the digital set-top boxes (STBs). “UTStarcom is the digital service vendor for Bharti’s IPTV. The set-top box will be two-way enabled,” says an industry source.
UTStarcom is a global company engaged in the manufacture, integration and support of IP-based, end-to-end networking and telecommunications solutions. It sells converged broadband wireless and wireline products, an integrated IPTV solution, and a comprehensive line of handset and customer premise equipment to operators in both emerging and established telecommunications markets worldwide.
Bharti has approximately 500000 fixed telephone retail customers. It wants to ride video content through its copper network. “Most of Bharti’s current presence in fixed line telephony is in National Capital Region (NCR), Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Haryana. The company will be initially targeting these markets,” says the source.
Bharti is working on an offering of 100 TV channels. “The company is creating the network transmission capacity for IPTV. It will be using ADSL 2 and ADSL 2+ technology,” says the source.
When does Bharti plan to commercially launch its IPTV service? “It will take at least six months,” says the source. The company is in talks with the broadcasters and other issues have to be tied up, he added.
Major telecom companies like Reliance Infocomm and VSNL are planning to offer IPTV services. The union minister for communications and information technology Dayanidhi Maran recently said that the government has asked MTNL and BSNL to ride on IPTV.
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With 57 per cent single new users, Ashley Madison rebrands as discreet dating platform
Platform says majority of new members now identify as single
INDIA: Ashley Madison is shedding the “married-dating” label that defined it for two decades, repositioning itself as a platform for discreet dating in what it calls the post-social media age.
The rebrand, unveiled in India on 27 February, 2026, marks a structural shift in business model and identity. Once synonymous with married dating, the company now describes itself as the “premier destination for discreet dating” under a new tagline: Where Desire Meets Discretion.
The pivot is data-driven. Internal figures show that 57 per cent of global sign-ups between 1 January and 31 December, 2025 identified as single: a notable departure from the platform’s married core. The company argues that its community has already evolved beyond its original positioning.
“In an age where our lives have been constantly put on public display, privacy has become the new luxury,” said Ashley Madison chief strategy officer Paul Keable. He framed the platform’s offering as “ethical discretion” for singles, separated, divorced and non-monogamous users seeking private connections.
The shift also taps into wider digital fatigue. A global survey conducted by YouGov for Ashley Madison, covering 13,071 adults across Australia, Brazil, Canada, Germany, India, Italy, Mexico, Spain, Switzerland, the UK and the US, found mounting discomfort with hyper-public online lives.
Among dating app users, 30 per cent cited constant swiping and messaging as a source of fatigue, while 24 per cent pointed to pressure to curate public-facing profiles and early personal disclosure. Some 27 per cent said fears of screenshots or information being shared contributed to exhaustion; an equal share cited unwanted attention.
The retreat from oversharing appears broader. According to the survey, 46 per cent of adults actively try to keep most aspects of their life private online. Only 8 per cent feel comfortable sharing most aspects publicly, while 35 per cent say they are becoming more selective about what they disclose.
Ashley Madison is betting that this cultural recalibration towards controlled visibility can be monetised. By doubling down on privacy infrastructure and reframing itself around discretion rather than infidelity, the company is attempting to convert reputational baggage into a premium proposition.
