Just as the concept of soon to be introduced mobile number portability came into existence, similar action needs to be taken in the DTH business so as to ensure that consumers get to choose the best service option.

DTH being a relatively new service in India, is experiencing a growth phase with Big TV, Sun Direct TV and Airtel Digital TV having launched their services to take on existing leading players Dish TV and Tata Sky.

The new service providers advocate better technology and services but since DTH has a high entry set top box cost, many existing users are reluctant to switch over to a new service provider.

However, under existing circumstances only Dish and T-Sky can interchange their services as both of them use MPEG-2 technology STB while all new service providers use MPEG-4 technology.

But in best case scenario it won’t be too long when increasing competition would force DTH service providers to provde for replacement of existing STB with latest technology STB at very nominal charges.