Time Broadband, the new player in Indian TV broadcasting

Time Broadband Services (TBSL) is trying to launch its IPTV services. No, the company is not part of the Times of India group – it is an independent company founded by three entrepreneurs with a technological background, Sujata Dev, Amit Dev and Tushar Shah.

TBSL plans to be in the B2B space and roll out IPTV services called My Time in association with wired telecom service providers such as Tata Telecom, Bharti Teleservices, Reliance Telecom and the state owned BSNL, and MTNL, which has rolled out IPTV services in New Delhi.

But at the present time, TBSL is unable to disclose details of a deal with any of these telecom operators. “Talks are still on,” was all agencyfaqs! could get from the company executives.

When asked when consumers would be able to avail of its services, Tushar Shah, director, TBSL, says, “Once we strike a deal with any of these operators, we will be in a position to roll out the services within seven days.”

TBSL claims to have around 100 channels on its platform. When further probed on this, Shah says STAR has already agreed to place its bouquet on the My Time platform, and talks are on with other companies as well.

Shah insists that the USP of My Time will be international special interest channels which are not available on regular platforms such as DTH or C&S. But to broadcast these channels, it needs government approval.

My Time has positioned itself as a content aggregator and it will be a conduit between telecom operators and the content industry. The bouquet of services it offers will include interactive games, chat, SMS, polls/voting through television and the soon to be launched video phone through a common delivery platform.

TBSL has technological alliances with companies such as Hewlett Packard, Optibase, Verimatrix, Kassena and Amino, and this makes it the most respected and trustworthy company entering the convergence space.

IPTV has witnessed success in most parts of the world – the US, China, Italy and Germany are some of the countries that have seen explosive growth in this sector. The global IPTV market is estimated to be worth US$2 billion and India, with China, is expected to contribute almost half of this growth.

© 2006 agencyfaqs!