Airtel Digital TV, the DTH arm of Bharti Airtel, on Thursday launched an Android-enabled set top box (STB) that will allow consumers to watch online content on television besides regular satellite channels. Priced at Rs4,999 for new customers, Airtel Internet TV STB are pre-loaded with movie application Netflix, support casting of content from YouTube, enable users to download applications from Google Play store and play games on TV for 3 months as it is targeting 20 million non-smart TV sets.
“This has been designed keeping in mind the needs of Indian homes and it bridges the gap between online and offline worlds to enable an end to end entertainment experience with the convenience of a single device,” said Bharti Airtel CEO & Director, DTH, Sunil Taldar.
New customers also have the option of buying this 4K content ready STB for Rs7,999, which will come with 1 year subscription of about 500 channels on Airtel DTH. “Consumers have to shell out Rs10,000-15,000 above normal TV which is big deterrent. Then there are media streaming devices but experience is not seamless,” he added. Airtel Internet TV will be available exclusively on online sales platform Amazon and after three weeks, the company has plans to sell through traditional retail channels.
“In India there are 30 million TV sets in which only 10 million are smart TV. We are targeting that segment,” he said adding ‘Airtel Internet TV will address this growing seamless experience of offline and online content’. Moreover, the company is also increasing the limit of its customers which are opting for Internet TV STB. “Those who are paying less than Rs999 for Airtel Broadband will get 10GB extra data and paying equal or above will get 25 GB extra on purchase of Airtel Internet TV STB,” Taldar added.