A small correction: SD good only for those who want to watch only regional tamil channels. There is a sizable population of young techies and professional from other parts of India who are interested in non tamil news and entertainment channels.
To my knowledge, a sizable number of my friends and relatives are having both sd and ts, sd for tamil
mega serials and ts to know what is happening outside tamilnadu.
There are other National news channels like 24X7 etc., as well in Sun Direct along with those HBO, UTV, etc.,. Only problem for now is there is no sports channels.
I had a grander dream; a prism dish which can receive signals from all the satellites in the visible zone, a multi-LNB, and an STB which will accept cards from all service providers, multi channel tuning for watching different programmes and a versatile easy to operate recorder which will ensure that I don't miss even one second. Most important - no subscription, only pay for what you view. I am ready to spend 10000 on capital cost and pay nil on revenue.
Prism dish

Multi operators means multi cards. But your dream stb doesn't specify how many cards can be put at the same time! You don't want to waste a second so it should have all the cards inserted!!
Paying per view but not willing to pay after making the capital expenditure!

Paying Rs.10,000 will make you view TS for many many years.
Anyway its a dream so no logic.
As per my knowledge it should work, but also depends how the software in
Tata Sky works. If they dont want their STB's to be used freely they can block it & STB may not proceed if valid digicard or expected satellite signal is not provided.
They have blocked their stbs. But there is one hidden menu which will pave way to receive other satellites :thumbsup: