Sun DIRECT, No NETWORK CHARGES beyond 100 FTA channels

https://ultra.news/t-t/44285/sun-direct-offers-...

WHAT IS A NETWORK CHARGE?

Under the new system of TV channel tariff mandated by the TRAI to come into effect from Feb 1, all cable and DTH providers will provide two bills for their customers.

The first bill, also called network bill, will be for their own services (pipe), while the second bill will be for the content that they are watching.

Out of the total 300 channels that SUN DIRECT have , around 150 channels are FREE

It should be noted that Sun Direct has capped only the network charges at Rs 153, and not the content charges. Content charges have to paid by consumers to the channel owners and there is nothing Sun Direct can do about these charges.

The move is seen as an attempt by the player to remain competitive in the cut-throat world of Tamil cable and satellite TV market.

Tamil Nadu saw a delayed roll-out of cable digitization and the prices paid by cable customers in the states are among the lowest in India, and hovers around the Rs 150 per month mark.

By offering a large number of channels for Rs 153, Sun Direct is trying to remain competitive against such players, especially given that cable players are also likely to provide 150 channels or so under their base packs.

The move by Sun Direct will make a difference to people who are primarily interested in free-to-air channels, as content charges on free-to-air channels are zero.

In other words, a Sun Direct customer can simply activate all free-to-air channels without worrying about any impact on their monthly bill.

Under this scheme on Sun Direct, whether someone views only 100 free-to-air channels or 150 free-to-air channels, the total monthly bill will still be only Rs 153 only. In comparison, customers of other DTH platforms will have to pay around Rs 210 per month to watch the same 150 free-to-air channels.