Businessworld has a profile of the IPTV pilot projects by major telcos in India.
Arun Natarajan is the Founder of Venture Intelligence India, which tracks venture capital activity in India and Indian-founded companies worldwide. View sample issues of Venture Intelligence India newsletters and reports.
Sometime this July, MTNL will become the first to launch Internet protocol television (IPTV) service (See ‘How IPTV Stacks Up Against The Others’). By the end of the year, other telecom operators will follow. And early in 2007, the Andhra Pradesh and Goa governments will launch broadband projects that include IPTV.
How and in what form consumers accept IPTV will decide three things in the broadcasting business. First, it will decide how convergence will play out in India. Second, it will determine how the Rs 12,000-odd crore pay TV market will get split between cable, DTH and IPTV operators. Third, it will decide whether 900,000 km of wires, laid across the country at an estimated cost of Rs 51,000 crore will fetch returns.
Arun Natarajan is the Founder of Venture Intelligence India, which tracks venture capital activity in India and Indian-founded companies worldwide. View sample issues of Venture Intelligence India newsletters and reports.