EchoStar Corp looks to enter India

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economictimes.indiatimes.com

28 Sep 2009, 0106 hrs IST,

NEW DELHI: Nasdaq-listed EchoStar Corporation, which sells satellite television services in the US under the Dish Network brand, is looking to
enter India.

As per a senior executive with an Indian DTH company who did not wish to be quoted, EchoStar Corporation has been studying the Indian market for some time and could pick up a strategic stake in an existing DTH company for its India entry.

The Direct-to-Home (DTH) industry which is in its nascent stage in the country has seen the entry of five players in two years. DTH operators, also known as satellite television service providers, offer direct television signals to a consumer’s home through dish antennae and a set top box.

Formed in 1980 by founder chairman Charles Ergen, EchoStar designs and makes set-top boxes world-wide and provides satellite capacity. After it helped develop Dish Network satellite television in United States and **** TV in Canada, the company in 2008 forayed into Mexico through a joint venture. It is now focused on Asia and announced a joint venture with AsiaSat in Taiwan early this year and would start operations soon.

In an e-mail reply to ET, the spokesman of EchoStar , Marc Lumpkin said, “We have not made any announcements about other (besides Mexico and Taiwan) potential opportunities for launching a DTH service around the world, but we are always looking at ways we can use our experience and expertise to create businesses related to DTH services.”

In the past, the company is learnt to have held talks with atleast two Indian DTH service providers for strategic partnerships but no deal was concluded. But as per two senior executives with DTH companies, EchoStar has revived its interest in India.

So far EchoStar Corporation’s presence in India is through its technology company Sling Media which it acquired about two years back. Sling Media makes convergence devices and has an engineering facility in Bangalore.

Both cable and DTH sectors in the past have had global majors showing interest. While cable industry is largely fragmented, DTH industry is organised and controlled by large corporates.

“Despite a downturn, India’s media and entertainment industry is growing unlike other countries where there is negative growth. Entertainment and media companies that have a presence in India are looking to expand their presence, others are looking at ways to enter India,” said Marcel Fenez, global leader- media & entertainment PricewaterhouseCoopers and chairman of Cable & Satellite Broadcasting Association of Asia (CASBAA).

As per industry estimates, there are close to 14-15 million DTH consumers in the country, which is expected to touch the 20 million mark by the end of this financial year. The sector is highly competitive with five players - Essel Group company Dish TV, Tata Sky, Reliance ADAG's Big TV, Airtel digital television and Sun TV. The latest entrant in the DTH space is Videocon which has piloted its services in Punjab.

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Thanks for the update.