The Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group (ADAG) is in the last leg of negotiations with the India Space Research Organisation (Isro) for Ku band transponder space aboard the third Malaysia East Asia satellite (MEASAT 3)and is expected to get transponder space for its mammoth DTH offering ? Bluemagic ? within the next one week.
The company is likely to pay around Rs 4.7-4.8 crore per transponder per year depending on the payment slab prescribed by Isro, sources said. Reliance ADAG had applied for a licence to operate India specific transponders late last year after envisaging interest to enter the DTH market.
Earlier this week ADAG chairman Anil Ambani had said the group?s DTH offering would be up and running by the end of the year and would use state of the art technology developed at the Dhirubhai Ambani Knowledge Center (DAKC) in Navi Mumbai. According to sources, ISRO is in negotiations with Malaysia for coordination of the required transponders. Depending on the number of transponders agreed upon for India coordination, a number of transponders will be ready for use by Indian firms for VSAT, DSNG and other education and health related purposes. Earlier this year, MEASAT had made its Ku-band transponders available and Isro was studying its feasibility for domestic purposes.
Reliance?s Bluemagic will be using MPEG-4 compression technology, which will allow it to pack in more channels and content per transponder. Kalanithi Maran’s Sun Direct has gone in for the same technology, while existing DTH operators Dish TV and Tata Sky have gone in for MPEG-2 compression and a move to MPEG-4 would be difficult for them. There are two more satellites with Ku band transponders expected to go up in the near future. Insat 4CR will have 12 Ku band transponders and is expected to be launched by the end of next month.