Bangalore - IPTV on 15th August ( With Rates from BSNL )

[Praks]

IPTV was launched in Bangalore on Monday and the facility will be available for users from August 15. :yahoo:About 150 television channels, movies, education from kindergarten, primary and high school students of higher levels, and much more will be available on internet protocol television. Digital quality is another benefit.Service charges are Rs 150 per month plus usage charges, thus giving cable operators a run for their money. A one-time investment includes a settop box worth Rs 3,950 and installation charges of Rs 889. BSNL-Karnataka’s chief general manager T S Kuppuswamy, who launched the service on Monday, demonstrated the choices on offer by picking a movie from its respective section.Viewers can choose from a choice of English, Hindi and other vernacular films for a price ranging from Rs 10 to up to Rs 150.Users of this service can watch their favourite programmes at the time of their choice, however, this option is not available now. It will be made available soon. E-education, homework and project assistance for students, music and gaming will also be available soon, said N Ramesh, head of India Online Broadband.BSNL Future plansExchanges to provide broadband access in Karnataka All 2,744 Network operation centre for the countryBangalore is main center of all operation of BSNL India. Charges from BSNLInstallation (non-refundable) Rs 889 Set-top box Rs 3,950 IPTV service charges Rs 150 per month Video on demand Rs 10 for normal films Rs 25 for semi-premium films Rs 80 for premium films up to Rs 150 for Hollywood filmsHats off BSNL.. Being just a sarkari babu govt company, You have come a long way that too so fast.. Tata too is trying hard in Mbps race..Where is Airtel & Reliance ?? Seems they are out of Broadband market & busy making vegetable malls :walllease forward this topic to TOP officers of Airtel so atleast they know Govt company is taking over their business so please come out of opening vegetable malls. :madness:Comments welcome

 

[boygr8]

The Private companies are always seen matching to Govt company rates where the latter are leading the competition and lauching innovative services. Vice-versa shud be the case

 

[Praks]

Yes, U are right.Hats off to BSNL..Shame on Airtel & Reliance.. Seems Mr Ambani is more interested in opening vegerable malls then going ahead in IT sector.

 

[blr_p]

Now let's hear what someone with the service thinks.I won't be touching this for at least 6 months to a yr till then.

 

[adder]

http://www.aminocom.com/products/pdf/AmiNET125Flyer_EU_160806.pdf

hey guys here is the link of the set top box they are providing.
so this set top box has some good connectivity options.finally the time has come to see the benifit of HD lcd.

 

[pmadhan]

This STB seems to have an USB port. Will it allow for connecting to a laptop and watching stuff directly ? (Having a built in tv tuner card functionality ? I know, I'm possibly asking for too much may be)

 

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[adder]

that usb port is for connecting a wi-fi adaptor of theirs only and only through which u can connect ur laptop.u can however buy a wireless keyboard for surfing the net.

 

[pmadhan]

:ashamed: hmm, I don't have a TV. Anyone got a firsthand experience / reco about USB / PCMCIA TV Tuner cards ?

 

[abhishekjaveri]

Hey guys,I'm new to IBF so forgive me if I'm outta line.I worked closely with Reliance about 3 years ago when they evaluated the Amino Set top box. In fact I still have a couple of pieces lying in my drawer. What I'm trying to say is that after evaluating the STB 3 years ago the then Reliance Infocomm rejected it, missing several required criteria for an interactive IPTV setup.While Reliance and Bharti are still no where near completion of their IPTV projects (though they claim to be), what has been launched by BSNL through IOL is rudimentary at best and not able to scale upto what an IPTV setup should offer.What they are currently offering is a direct substitute to what exists in the market today, better than cable TV but barely any better than Tata Sky or the likes thereof. What they have done by prematurely entering the market is made people spend money on an outdated piece of equipment with a backend not capable of scaling to large content blocks for VoD, not offer services such as nPVR (network Personal Video Recording), E-Learning and much more.The systems the other Telcos have been working on are far more sophisticated and powerful, with a fleet of services that merit a true IPTV deployment. Most importantly the choice of STB is being made so that the user will not have to buy a new STB in a year once new features get introduced.:wall:Additionally, someone mentioned the connectivity options, all the STB's that are under evaluation before being offered have the full suite of connectivity, from RCA to VGA and DVI. Would love to hear feedback

 

[gregory house]

Nothing unexpected. They have taken an existing word (IPTV) and applied it to their way to delivering television. Presently, we should satisfied with the fact that we have one more way of accessing television and that the vice-like grip of the cable operators is finally loosening up.

True IPTV is currently a pipe dream. Wait for a few years and we might actually see it.

I would prefer it if the set top box did not use hardware chips to perform the decoding. A reasonably fast processor, a customised version of linux and software codecs to perform the decoding might be better as the box need not be replaced if content needs to be delivered using a new technology. Updating the codecs would be sufficient. Of course the price of the box would go up...