India is emerging as the only country where so many direct-to-home (DTH) service providers have expressed their intent to join the race. Tata Sky Ltd, a 80:20 joint venture between Tatas and Rupert Murdoch-controlled Star, is preparing for launch with a ramp up plan of 18 Ku-band transponders. Anil Ambani's Reliance has a launch plan with six transponders, going up to 18. Then there is Kalanithi Maran's Sun Direct which will start with five transponders and stabilise at nine. Subhash Chandra's Dish TV and Doordarshan's Direct Plus are already on NSS-6, but have migration plans. State-owned BPCL is also chalking out its DTH plans.
So is there space on satellite for these DTH operators? Can the Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro) rise up to the challenge? To find out whether DTH can grow unbridled by infrastructural bottlenecks in India, Indiantelevision.com's Sibabrata Das and Taro W meet up with ISRO contract management and legal services director SB Iyer at Bangalore. A B.Tech from IIT Madras and an MBA from IIM Ahmedabad, Iyer joined Isro in 1974. He worked in Insat-1 project team from 1978-91. He is currently looking after launch vehicle and satellite contracts, transponder marketing, insurance and long term planning of Insat capacity.
In an exclusive interview, Iyer says Isro is gearing up to meet the requirement of Ku-band transponder capacity in India. He also reveals Isro's growth plans.
Excerpts: |
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How is ISRO gearing up to meet the sudden burst of demand for satellite space from DTH players? |
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That is what has actually delayed Insat-4A's launch and made Tata Sky LTD wait before it can start its services, right? |
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How long will Kalanithi Maran's Sun Direct have to wait? |
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And what about Reliance? |
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But when can you give capacity on Insat? |
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Does Subhash Chandra's Dish TV not figure in the Insat list? |
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What if Chandra sets up Agrani satellite and decides to operate DTH through it? I can't comment on his plans. But the company already has a license to operate Indian satellite systems. It is just the question of finding an orbital slot and getting a satellite. But it has to be an Indian and not a foreign co-ordinated orbital slot. |
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Has the company approached ISRO? |
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Has BPCL, which is planning to offer DTH service, applied for more transponders? |
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Is Isro equipped to meet the ramp up plans of the DTH operators? |
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How big is the demand for Ku-band transponders from non DTH operators? |
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Is there a slump in demand for C-band capacity? |
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Do you have a problem in 4B? Not really. We have non-TV customers to address. |
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So going ahead, you would rather create Ku-band capacity? We are going to concentrate immediately on the Ku-band shortage in the country.
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Won't this be taking too much of a risk? Compression technology can lead to more channels be packaged in a single Ku-band transponder. What if MPEG-4 catches on? We won't be surprised if the collapse takes place as fast as the demand has come up. Satellite is a risky business and we have to anticipate the changes. We know once MPEG-4 technology comes, suddenly the requirement for Ku-band will collapse. Like it has done for C-band capacity which is not growing because everything is digitised. We have kept these things in the background and planned for the future. The set up is dynamic. Our ramp up plan has taken these things into consideration. At any time, we can take a mid-course correction. |
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What are the other technological changes which you feel will impact the industry? |
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By an arrangement with Thaicom, VSNL is able to provide an end-to-solution solution to broadcasters. Does ISRO have any such plans? |
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How does the MCPC work in reducing costs? |
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Is ISRO foraying into other markets with different products? We are planning to enter into a niche market segment with small satellites having six-capacity Ku-band transponders. This is aimed specifically at the developing countries. In many countries like Malaysia and Thailand, there is a demand for such satellites. A part of the capacity augmentation will be through launch of such small transponder satellites. The satellites will be launched from India. We will be able to tap customers who have need for limited capacity.
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Is ISRO tapping foreign satellites for launching in India? Foreign satellites are willing to come here to launch. Agile, a satellite from Italy, is interested. Similarly, some Russian satellites have expressed their interest. Our Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) is very popular for low orbit and medium weight satellites. We are well placed in this niche market segment. |
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