GOOD NEWS FOR ALL DISH TV USERS-- INTERNET AND 400+ channels ???

[sushil_sh]

Essel Group owned direct-to-home (DTH) service DishTV is all set to extend its satellite channel capacity to 420 with the launch of its own satellite Argani scheduled by the end of June this year. Once operational, the satellite would also enable DishTV to provide broadband internet service to its subscribers.

DishTV, which has offered a free-of-cost set top box (STB) to all new subscribers, is looking at doubling its customer base of 310,000 in next 45 days. The company's plan to double customer base comes ahead of its Rs 800 crore satellite project being handled by Chinese satellite company ProtoStar.

Speaking to Business Standard, KK Mehkarkar, head of distribution network (Maharashtra) and Director of Meltek Infosystems, DishTV, said, "Protostar has almost finalised the schedule for launching DishTV's satellite from Kourou in French Guyana. We expect the launch by the end of June and the satellite would be operational by July. We will then have additional 14 Ku-band and 12 c-band transponders for satellite TV broadcast."

DishTV currently holds nine c-band transponders on a European satellite NSS-6 and can show 220 TV channels.

Being the oldest company in the market, it enjoys market leadership compared with its peers Prasarbharati's DD Direct Plus, Tata Sky and Sun TV services. "We are planning to provide internet connection through the DTH platform. Once the new satellite is operational, internet services would be feasible technically. Current DishTV users would have to exchange their STBs and dish to avail the internet service," Mehkarkar added.

With the launch of its satellite and the entry of new players such as Reliance and Airtel in the DTH market, DishTV has decided to offer free STBs to all its new subscribers. New subscribers who opt for the annual maxi package worth Rs 3,990 will also get 67 movies-on-demand (MoD) free of cost.




Source : DishTV to launch captive satellite by June-end






Based on this article i traced down details ....

protostar website Protostarsat

I found that the satellite being referred in this article is ProtoStar II (Boeing 601HP) , which might be launched soon

Protostar I is launched on july 07 , 08 check here

Protostarsat

To check footprints of protostarII click here
Protostarsat

click on Ku-Band Indian Sub-Continent

Well this is really a big step in DTH market to provide INTERNET through DTH ....off course for that existing STB boxes will have to be replaced . Anyways i was looking for big tv ..but surly dish tv has some very interesting plan for the future good news !

 

[ganesh177]

Essel Group owned direct-to-home (DTH) service DishTV is all set to extend its satellite channel capacity to 420 with the launch of its own satellite Argani scheduled by the end of June this year.
its already mid of july, sushil

 

[pandey]

why people get them as fool. dont't know business policies

 

[chelseafc]

you are wrong man it will be prostar1 not prostar2 and prostar1 is already launched :thumbsup: and it make sence cause proatar1 will me nearer to NSS6 and it contain both c-band and ku-band.

ProtoStar I Successfully Carried to Orbit on Ariane 5; Satellite to Serve the Asian DTH Market

San Francisco, CA, July 7, 2008 - ProtoStar Ltd., a Bermuda corporation, announced the successful launch late today of its ProtoStar I communications satellite aboard an Ariane 5 rocket that lifted into space from the European Spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana.

ProtoStar I, the company’s first satellite, is positioned at 98.5 degrees East longitude to provide direct-to-home (DTH) television and broadband Internet service to South and Southeast Asia. Built by Space Systems/Loral on its space-proven 1300 platform, the satellite will enter service following a series of in-orbit tests expected to take no more than two months.

“This successful launch is truly the realization of a dream that began in 2002. That’s when we first conceptualized our business plan for a new constellation of satellites to meet the growing demand for DTH television service throughout Asia,” said Philip Father, ProtoStar’s President and CEO. “Though we are already hard at work on the ProtoStar II and III satellites, the excitement of getting our first bird successfully into orbit is unrivaled. I’m sure I speak for all of our customers and partners when I say how thrilled we all are to have this first important step behind us.” The launch today aboard the Ariane 5 rocket also successfully placed in orbit at 26 degrees East the Arabsat BADR-6 satellite, manufactured by EADS Astrium and Thales Allenia Space.

ProtoStar I is the first in a fleet of satellites aimed at supporting in-country partners in the Asia Pacific region. These partners plan to offer their subscribers satellite television packages with more than 150 channels of digital-quality video (ultimately high definition), audio, and pay-per-view programming, as well as powerful broadband Internet access. The footprint of ProtoStar I has been customized to meet the immediate and long term needs of the company’s anchor DTH-operator customers from an orbital slot that provides coverage to an area with a population of over 2 billion. ProtoStar I has twenty two 36MHz-equivalent Ku-band transponders and thirty eight 36MHz-equivalent C-band transponders. The satellite provides C-band coverage from Southeast Asia across to the Middle East. A portion of the Ku-band transponders are aimed at the Indian subcontinent, with the remainder serving the Southeast Asia region.

Companies which have already leased space on ProtoStar I include Agrani Satellite Services Limited, a division of DishTV India Ltd.;:thumbsup::thumbsup: PlanetSky Ltd. of Limassol, Cyprus; and Singapore Telecommunications Ltd. (SingTel). ProtoStar has contracted with SingTel for that company to augment its operations center in Singapore to provide telemetry, tracking and control (TT&C) services for the ProtoStar I satellite. ProtoStar recently completed a round of funding in support of ProtoStar II, a Boeingmanufactured satellite expected to be launched in early 2009 on an International Launch Services (ILS) Proton rocket. ProtoStar has already pre-leased a significant portion of capacity on its second satellite.

 

[leomax]

afaik there is some restriction in india providing internet through dth.

 

[lovetowatchx26]

its already mid of july, sushil
this is india and companies gives informations only dont want to fulfil them .. just like adult code is already described in last june 2007 now its 2008 ..

so carry on guys . time is running we cant see anything new next 50 years