Bharti Group to enter Internet Protocol TV market

Sunil Mittal’s Bharti has announced their plans to enter the “Internet Protocol TV” (IPTV) segment in India, which would see television content delivered through telephone lines! They have collaborated with tech giants UTStarcom for this ambitious venture, which should put them in a market with no players in the Indian broadband scenario.

UTStarcom has already installed a digital head end in Gurgaon where the trial run is on with some free-to-air (FTA) TV channels and other video content. They would also be developing the entire IPTV architecture for the company in India. This includes supplies of head end and the digital set-top boxes to the customers subscribing to the services from Bharti.

Bharti already has gained a sizable broadband and telephony customers and are rapidly expanding their landline network around the country. They are also reportedly working hard on creating a network transmission capacity for IPTV and are discussing the potential deals with the broadcasters.