IPTV to challenge cable TV market in India'

Fixed-line internet service provider Excitel is betting on Internet Protocol Television (IPTV) technology to challenge the existing market of 60-70 million cable TV homes in India, VIVEK RAINA, CEO and cofounder, tells Subhayan Chakraborty in a face-to-face interview in New Delhi. Serving more than a million homes, Excitel is the third-largest fibre-to-home broadband provider in the country, and plans to expand 3x in the next 5 years, he says. Edited excerpts:

What is Excitel's IPTV service?

We are bringing broadcast television to the smart TV in your home without the need for a set-top box. Under the earlier regulations, for all pay channels, you needed a set-top box to decrypt the signal.

Now, you can do the same through an app. IPTV will run through our WiFi unit, and the customer simply needs to download the Excitel TV app to watch all pay channels. This is not the same as Direct-to-Mobile technology.

What are your expectations from IPTV play?