MUMBAI: Cable operators have got a fresh warning from their DTH rivals, ahead of the digitisation mandate. For the festive month of October, direct-to-home (DTH) operators have mopped up 1.6 million subscribers, the highest monthly mobilisation this fiscal.

DTH added 2.85 million subscribers during the three-month period ended June. There was a marginal slowdown as the sector collected 2.5 million in the second quarter.

Videocon has emerged as the leader among the pack, adding 1.8 million subscribers this fiscal as it inches close towards the 5-million mark. 
 
“We have added 400,000 subscribers in October itself. Being a strong consumer electronics company, our wide dealer network has helped. We have also marketed the product aggressively,” said Videocon d2h chief executive officer Anil Khera.

Dish TV, India’s largest DTH company in terms of subscriber base, has added 1.735 million this fiscal. While it collected 1.3 million subscribers during the first six months of the fiscal, in October the company added 435,000 new customers. 
 
Bharti’s Airtel Digital TV had around 400,000 subscribers in October. It collected 1.3 million subscribers in the fiscal’s first two quarters.
Tata Sky is also among the top four DTH players in terms of new customer additions.

Ashok Lalla joins Mindshare as leader, digital, South Asia