Movies
Vissa in revamp mode; dubbed movies, interactivity key programming pull
MUMBAI: Chennai-based Raj Television Network’s (RTN) Telugu channel Vissa TV is gearing for change. Come 5 June, and the channel will sport a fresh look along with a new logo.
In line with the makeover, Vissa will start telecasting dubbed English movies in Telugu. Also in the pipeline is a slew of interactive programmes.
Says Vissa TV executive vice president R Radhakrishnan, “We have been keeping a low profile these days. Now we felt it was time to jazz up a bit. The new shows we are launching will play a crucial role in our revamping process.”
RTN has been uplinking Vissa TV, along with the Tamil channels Raj TV and Raj Digital Plus, from Bangkok since November 2004. The network had to move out its channels to Bangkok as the I&B ministry terminated its teleport licence. The government was acting against RTN uplinking its Vissa TV and now shelved Raj Musix from India without a valid licence.
The present makeover is part of RTN’s decision to change the look and feel of the channels in its network. Raj TV has already started the process and is about to unveil its new logo on 14 May.
Programming initiatives:
With the makeover, Vissa TV is introducing the concept of dubbed English movies in Telugu in June. “We have acquired Jackie Chan and Bruce Lee movies. We will be launching a martial arts movie segment to telecast these movies in the weekends,” says Radhakrishnan.
The channel is also banking on the game show genre to make waves in the market. One of the three game shows, Jackpot, will be an SMS-based live interactive game show.
“The channel has acquired the format rights of the show from a Hungary-based production company and the show will be shot in Hungary,” says Radhakrishnan.
The one hour show is scheduled on week days between 9 pm to 10 pm. Viewers have to register their name and other details through SMS. The channel then picks up one of the registered viewers through a lucky dip and hurls questions at them. Each right answer will carry a certain amount of cash prize and the maximum prize money a viewer can win is Rs 100,000. Vissa will launch the Jackpot in the second week of June.
Chance Le Chance is an interactive on-ground show, slotted for weekends. The on-ground activity will cover all major towns in Andhra Pradesh. The channel will be launching a publicity campaign for Chance Le Chance covering television, print and below-the-line activities. Produced by Vinod Bala, the show has its anchor in popular television personality Uday Bhanu. The event will kick start on 21 May from Warangal.
Vissa TV has also lined up a musical talent show Paadaala Telugu Paatta to identify and promote new talents in lyric writing and playback singing. Anchored by popular playback singer Nithya Santhoshini, the show will have one winner in each category — male singer, female singer and lyrics writer.
The channel will also be launching a daily soap Gharshana in the last week of June. Starring popular artists from Telugu film industry, the serial is produced by Vinod Bala.
Hindi
India’s telecom subscribers cross 1.32 billion in February 2026
Broadband base swells past 1.06 billion as Jio and Airtel tighten grip on the market.
MUMBAI: India’s telecom sector is ringing in steady growth once again adding millions of new connections every month while the race for broadband supremacy continues to heat up like a fiercely contested cricket match. According to the latest data released by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) on 1 April 2026, the total telephone subscriber base in the country reached 1,321.31 million at the end of February 2026. This marked a net addition of 7.31 million subscribers during the month, translating into a monthly growth rate of 0.56 per cent.
Wireless subscribers (including mobile and Fixed Wireless Access) stood at 1,273.31 million, registering a net addition of 6.97 million and a growth rate of 0.55 per cent. Within this, urban wireless connections grew to 730.75 million (growth 0.70 per cent), while rural wireless subscribers reached 542.56 million (growth 0.35 per cent).
Wireline subscribers, though much smaller in scale, showed slightly faster growth. The total wireline base increased to 47.99 million, with a net addition of 0.34 million and a monthly growth rate of 0.70 per cent. Urban areas continued to dominate wireline connections with a share of 89.41 per cent.
Overall tele-density in India improved to 92.66 per cent. Urban tele-density stood at 150.68 per cent, while rural tele-density edged up to 60.02 per cent.
The broadband subscriber base crossed a significant milestone, reaching 1,059.05 million at the end of February 2026. This reflected a healthy net addition of 6.33 million subscribers and a monthly growth rate of 0.60 per cent from January’s figure of 1,052.72 million.
Segment-wise, mobile wireless access continued to drive the majority of growth with 996.52 million subscribers. Fixed Wireless Access (including 5G FWA) added 16.51 million, while wired broadband stood at 46.02 million.
Reliance Jio Infocomm Ltd. maintained its commanding lead with 519.64 million broadband subscribers. Bharti Airtel Ltd. followed with 364.14 million, Vodafone Idea Ltd. with 129.36 million, Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd. with 28.70 million, and Atria Convergence Technologies Ltd. with 2.38 million.
Together, these top five players command a massive 98.60 per cent share of the total broadband market.
In the wireless (mobile) segment, private operators continued to dominate with 92.59 per cent market share, leaving public sector undertakings (BSNL and MTNL) with just 7.41 per cent.
Out of the total 1,257.29 million wireless (mobile) subscribers, 1,177.60 million were active on the peak Visitor Location Register (VLR) date, representing an impressive 93.66 per cent activity rate. Bharti Airtel led in this metric with 99.42 per cent of its subscribers active.
Meanwhile, 14.47 million subscribers submitted requests for Mobile Number Portability (MNP) in February, indicating healthy competition and customer churn across zones.
While urban areas still lead in absolute numbers, rural connectivity is slowly catching up. Rural wireless tele-density stood at 59.46 per cent, compared with the much higher urban figure of 142.32 per cent.
Fixed Wireless Access using 5G technology also showed promising traction, growing to 11.93 million subscribers. Reliance Jio and Bharti Airtel are the primary players driving this segment.
The data paints a picture of a maturing yet still rapidly expanding telecom ecosystem. With total telephone subscribers now well past the 1.32 billion mark and broadband users comfortably above 1.06 billion, India continues to solidify its position as one of the world’s largest and most dynamic digital markets.
From bustling city streets to remote villages, more Indians are staying connected than ever before proving that when it comes to telecom, the country’s appetite for growth shows no signs of hanging up anytime soon.
