The DTH subscriber base has grown to 23.77 million viewers by the end of June quarter from 21.3 million users in the previous quarter, sectoral regulator the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) said today.
According to Trai, six DTH licensees (excluding DD Direct) reported subscriber base of 23.77 million (for the quarter ended June 2010) as against 21.3 million at the end of March 2010, indicating an increasing penetration of the service.
The DTH subscriber base stood at 15.17 million in the quarter ended June 2009.
Apart from the free DTH service of Doordarshan, there are six private DTH licensees -- Dish TV, Tata Sky, Sun Direct, Airtel digital TV, Reliance BIG TV and Videocon d2h.
On installation of set-top boxes in Conditional Access System (CAS) notified areas in the four metros, Trai said 7,70,519 boxes had been installed till June 30 this year.
On the mushrooming of television channels in the country, the regulatory body said there was a total of 150 pay channels as of June 30, based on the data received from 24 broadcasters and their distributors across the country.
Total number of channels registered with Ministry of Information and Broadcasting has increased from 503 in March 2010 to 515 in June this year.
The number of private FM Radio stations in operation stood at 248 at the end of June 2010, it added.
