Tata Sky MPEG-4 Set Top Box To Offer More Channels

India's leading Direct To Home (DTH) service provider, Tata Sky has partnereed with Broadom Corporation (NASDAQ: BRCM) to offer MPEG-4 capable set top boxes all over India. The move will allow Tata Sky to optimise the bandwidth and offer larger number of channel options to all its subscribers. If you are a new Tata Sky subscriber with a new SD, SD+, HD, HD+ set-top-box; then you need not worry because the chances are that your STB is already MPEG-4 compatible. But the old subscribers will have to upgrade to the new STBs. That won't cost you a buck, because Tata Sky will replace those boxes absolutely free of cost. The company estimates that about 5-6 million boxes will need to be replaced with the newer ones.


Once the transition to MPEG-4 compatible STBs is done, Tata Sky will explore the options of offering more content through their DTH service. Mr. Harit Nagpal, CEO of Tata Sky, which is a joint venture between Tata Group & Star Ventures, said that the move to MPEG-4 standards is a major milestone for the company and will offer significant benefit to the subscribers. Nagpal said that the BroadCom's Satellite Set-Top Box devices offer best-in-class integration, performance and energy-efficiency and was the most straightforward choice.

This indeed is an interesting move. Tata Sky's had waited for ISRO to provide additional transponder space and the application's been pending since 2007. The company's already considering a legal action against ISRO. The adoption of the newer standard will require at least another year.

Stay tuned for important updates!

Via: #-Link-Snipped-#tata