Tata Sky announces ground-breaking price of Rs 1,499 for hardware

• To launch high-end personal video recorder
• Increases distribution to 5000 towns

Mumbai, February 5, 2008: Within a month of crossing the 1.5 million connection mark, Tata Sky announced a dramatic reduction of 50% in its hardware price. The rapid subscriber ramp-up in a short span of 16 months has resulted in large cost savings for the company, which is has decided to pass to its customers. This move, combined with the recent introduction of attractively priced subscription packages (starting at Rs 200 per month), continues the company’s endeavor to make digital quality television viewing possible for every family in India.

In addition, to ensure that it constantly brings the latest in television entertainment to India, Tata Sky has also announced its plan to launch its high-end personal video recorder (PVR) this year. The PVR device will help subscribers pause live television, record multiple programmes and enjoy true video-on-demand. Tata Sky’s parent company, Newscorp, has already launched PVR very successfully in the UK, Italy and Australia.

Mr Vikram Kaushik, Managing Director & CEO, Tata Sky Ltd. said, “It is the confidence shown by the customers in our service that has helped us achieve the unparalleled feat of 1.5 million connections within 16 months of launch. Hence, it is more than fair that we share the benefits of this feat with them. With our hardware priced at Rs 1,499, our world-class service will now be affordable for consumers across all strata of the society. We are confident that this pricing will catapult the process of digitization across the country and will help boost the government’s efforts to digitise India by 2010 for the Commonwealth Games.”

Tata Sky is now available in almost 5000 towns, making its distribution network the widest offered by any DTH company in India. The company has also recently added newly launched channels like 9X, NDTV Imagine, UTV Bindass, NDTV MetroNation taking its offering to over 160 TV channels and services. Actve Darshan, Actve Learning and Actve Stories are amongst the recently launched interactive services, ensuring entertainment for every member of the family.