Dish TV to have 5 mln subscribers by Mar '09

Noida, May 18 (UNI) Dish TV, part of the Essel Group venture, has said it targets to sign up an additional 1.8 million subscribers, taking its total customer base to five million, by March 2009.

''We aim to add an additional 1.8 million subscribers by the end of March 2009,'' Dish TV Managing Director Jawahar Goel said here.

With a view to scale up its volume, the company announced a consumer-friendly offer, where one can get the set-top box free by simply paying a year's maxi subscription and installation/activation charges.

The offer will help the company to add 10,000 subscribers every day from its existing 4,000, Mr Goel said.

He added that the market is going to become more crowded with both Reliance and Airtel launching their Direct-to-Home (DTH) services in the coming months.

Currently, the company which outsources the set-top-box from Korea has a distribution network of about 575 distributors and 38,000 dealers that span around 4,400 towns across the country.

The country's first DTH service provider entertains the viewers with 185 television and 22 radio channels.

Mr Goel had earlier said the company plans to offer about 400 channels by next year both Indian and international channels.

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