Hello DTH TV, Hello Tata Sky!
Posted by: vishaltayal on: December 21, 2006
- In: Tech Reviews
- Comment!
DTH (Direct-to-Home) enables you to receive satellite programs on your regular TV using a mini-dish and STB (set-top box). There are currently 3 DTH players in the Indian market – DD Direct+, Dish TV and Tata Sky.
With DD Direct+, you just need to pay for the equipment (Rs. 3,000 maximum). There are no activation charges or monthly dues. However, the bouquet of channels and radio stations is limited to free-to-air i.e. 19 DD channels, 14 private channels and 12 radio channels (all are ‘All India Radio’ only).
With Dish TV, you need to shell out approx. Rs. 3,500 for the equipment and then pay Rs. 180-300 per month to receive 85-125 channels (includes most of the popular channels in India including all Star and Zee channels).
With Tata Sky, the equipment initially costs Rs. 4,000. Then, the monthly dues are Rs. 300 to receive 110 channels. Channel lineup is similar to Dish TV. However, it is the quality of equipment and customer service that is attracting so many people to Tata Sky.
My experience with Tata Sky DTH:
After getting frustrated with inconsistent quality of reception and cable operator’s indifference to my complaints, I finally decided to opt for DTH.
Considering the very limited choice of channels on DD Direct+, I ruled it out. I had to now choose between Dish TV and Tata Sky. Dish TV is cheaper and offers the French channel – TV5 Monde (interesting for me, considering my long association with France). However, after reading people’s complaints about Dish TV’s pathetic customer service and sub-standard equipment, I decided to go for Tata Sky.
I called Tata Sky’s customer care center with my questions and found them to be courteous and helpful. So I went ahead and purchased the equipment from a local electronics store in Vashi on 13/12. The vendor assured me that the installation would be done next day in the evening.
Tata Sky engineers called me 2-3 times during the day to confirm my availability and as promised, installed the dish and STB on 14/12 evening. They were efficient during installation and patiently explained the various features.
It is indeed very rare to see such a professional customer service in India!
Deficiencies in Tata Sky DTH:
A few downsides that I see in Tata Sky DTH, at present, are the following-
(Dish TV users based in Mumbai, please comment on this post to let me know if you are getting “Star Movies” or not).
3 Responses to "Hello DTH TV, Hello Tata Sky!"
Dear Vishal,
You did not clarify. does TataSky provide TV5? I am also interested in just that channnel. I asked their help line but that is manned by a call centre, whose executives are not able to provide all information.
I agree woth you that the Tata name could be an assurance of better service, but are they ready to provide all channels soon?
Anantha
Dear Anantha,
As of now, Tata Sky does not provide TV5 Monde. I have requested their call center to add this channel. Let us see when they add it. Dish TV does provide this channel with their DTH service.
Regards,
Vishal
1 | Prasanna
December 26, 2006 at 9:13 pm
I don’t recommend TATA SKY. The Monthly rental is costly and many do not want to invest sum of Rs 3,999/- (equipment & Installation charges) for one dealer. What if TATA SKY removes certain channels after one year? What will happen to my 3,999/-? it’s all gone. I can’t go for another DTH Provider spending another Rs. 3,000 after the Rs.4,000/- loss!!!! OR i can’t stop watching my favorite channel.
Will TATA SKY allow me to view only the free-Air Channels only?
I am not intrested in paying monthly rental of Rs.300/- after investing nearly 4,000/-……. Indeed i don’t recommend any DTH Service for India unless you are out of coverage by the cable operators….
For Example:- 98% people in Tamil Nadu watch Sun TV. Currently Sun TV is Free- Air Service. What if TATA SKY & Sun TV get into some problem later and TATA Sky terminates Sun TV. What the people in Tamil Nadu do! . No one understands Hindi and they are not willing to even tune their TV sets to any of the Hindi Channels even if they broadcast a one week release old Sharukh khan movie. I hardly see people tuning to another language channel except English. We have to shut down our DTH equipment and go back to regular cable service after loosing Rs.4,000 bucks.
Does TATA Sky’s equipment have the feature to listen to a different DTH provider? i.e when we want to change to Dish TV without buying new equipment……
The best thing for our country is normal cable service!!!! or an agreement with the DTH provider for full reimbursement after disconnection….
You are paying Rs.1,000/- extra dear for the customer service & Installation. It will be good only at the beginning. After 2 years it will be the worst….dont worry..thats global trend for customer service.