Nearly 20 Million Viewers Opt Out Of DTH Services As Bills Start To Pinch

Drop in active subscriber base coincides with regulator TRAI’s new tariff order

- Varun Aggarwal

An increase in cable bills have started to have an impact on the direct-to-home market with DTH operators witnessing an unprecedented 25 per cent fall in subscribers in the April-June quarter.

According to a report by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India, DTH services had an average active subscriber base of 54.26 million in the quarter ended June 30, a 25 percent drop from 72.44 million active subscriber base reported in January-March quarter. This coincides with the new tariff order implemented by the regulator from April 1.

The number highlights the challenges faced by DTH operators during the transition to the new tariff regime wherein consumers were to pay only for what they watched. The transition came with confusion, ill-trained customer support staff and forced ‘best fit packages’ from most of the players, leading to opposite results than initially intended.