L. N. Revathy

Coimbatore, Sept. 30

The UK-headquartered NDS Group has created technologies and applications that enable pay-TV operators to deliver digital content to TV set-top boxes, digital video recorders, PCs, mobiles and other multimedia devices.

The company has established development centres in China, Denmark, France, India, Israel, Korea, UK and the US and is committed to investing in R&D, says the group's Chief Marketing Officer, Mr Nigel Smith.

Mr Smith spoke to Business Line about the host of initiatives taken by the company towards reducing its carbon footprint and helping digital TV subscribers reduce energy consumption.

Excerpts from the interview:

What are the technologies that NDS is currently selling in India?

We believe in leadership through technological innovations. Our R&D commitment and innovations has helped us emerge leaders in the global pay-TV industry today.

Our Conditional Access, Middleware and Electronic Programme Guides (EPG) are some of the best selling technologies that have played a pivotal role in putting the company in the forefront of the Indian digital pay-TV industry.Other solutions like Digital Video Recorder (DVR), Video on Demand (VoD), Pay per View (PPV) and Advanced User interface (UI) have received overwhelming response here.

Who are the others offering such technologies?

The Direct-to-Home (DTH) sector is witnessing phenomenal growth since inception in 2003. At present, there are 6 pay-TV operators offering DTH services in the country.

All of them compete head-to-head. We have partnered with Indian DTH players such as Tata Sky and Airtel Digital TV. We also work with Multi System Operators (MSOs) like Hathway Cable and Datacom, DEN and GTPL by helping them extend seamless Digital Cable TV services to their subscribers across the country.

Bharti Airtel's remote recording facility through mobile phones and Tata Sky's True Video on Demand (TVoD) services show our commitment to not just our customers but Indian viewers. These advanced solutions available to our DTH and digital cable TV customers, not only help them increase their ARPU (average revenue per user), but increases customer loyalty and reduces churn in a competitive environment.

How do you see the Indian DTH market when it comes to such technologies?

The size, vitality and growth of India's DTH industry could dwarf almost all the markets in Asia-Pacific in the near future.

Research firm Media Partners Asia's (MPA) findings show that India is poised to become the world's largest DTH satellite pay TV market with 36 million subscribers by 2012, overtaking the US. Furthermore, in its report titled 'Asia Pacific Pay-TV and Broadband Markets 2010,' MPA has said that India's DTH subscriber base would increase to 45 million by 2014 and 58 million by 2020. This growth is bound to build up the pressure to launch new innovative services. Analysts predict that consumers would be willing to pay additional charges for VAS if they see value for their money.

MPA has, in its October 2009 report, said that 77 per cent of DVR users think the only device that is more important than a DVR is their mobile phone. This means they value their DVR higher than their PC, DVD or MP3 player and they don't mind paying the additional cost for this technology. Similarly, the market for HDTV, VOD and PPV will grow further more as these technologies become older and as consumers start relating with them.