Coca-Cola denies US consumer group’s claim that its colouring ingredient causes cancer; yet the company says it will modify its drinks in India like it has in California
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Broadcasting direct to home
Fed up with your cablewallah? Here’s all you need to know about switching to DTH
Direct-to-home (DTH) television received a warm reception from consumers in 2004 when two providers — Doordarshan and Dish TV — ended the 12-year monopoly held by the cable TV operators. Now, you have even more choice, with the entry of Sun, Tata Sky, Reliance and Airtel. What this means is that consumers are no longer at the mercy of cable operators.
Late last year, Dish TV claimed it had 45 lakh customers, Tata Sky reported 20 lakh subscribers, while Reliance’s Big TV touched the 10 lakh mark in November, only three months after its launch. While cable operators still control the lion’s share of the market (almost eight crore homes), legislation may soon make conditional access systems (see ‘Jargon buster’) mandatory for all homes, thereby making DTH subscription more appealing. Except for the free-to-air Doordarshan, each of the DTH service providers offers several plans plus add-on services.
Here we explain what these plans and services are and what to look for when choosing a plan.
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