MUMBAI: Asianet, the leading Malayalam language channel, has gone digital from this week in an effort to stay ahead of the competition.

The channel, that was operating a dual feed for two weeks prior to digitalization, has withdrawn the analog feed and has gone fully digital from Monday (15 July). 

In another development, it has set up its own teleport in Thiruvananthapuram, the capital of the southern state of Kerala, at an investment of around Rs 150 million. The company also plans to offer uplink facilities to other channels. Asianet COO Mohan Nair says Jeevan TV, the soon to be launched Malayalam channel, has already reached a deal with Asianet where it will be the first non-Asianet channel to be uplinked from the teleport.

Jeevan TV, promoted by the Catholic Church of Kerala, was to have commenced telecast on 14 July. The launch date has however, been pushed over to next month, say sources. The 24-hour channel will have an emphasis on news and current affairs, information and education. 

Technical specifications of Asianet post digitalization-

FREQUENCY 3642 MHZ
SYMBOL RATE 19.531 FEC 3/4
POLARIZATION VERTICAL
SATELLITE APR 1 - 83 Degree East