Microsoft to Deliver TV Over Web in India
Posted by evoyage on November 6, 2007
Targeting a different market than it has gone after in the West, Microsoft announced a partnership with India’s Reliance Communications on Monday to provide Internet Protocol Television service to households in India. The companies are going after the fast-growing mass market in India, which is growing by about 25 percent per year.
Reliance Communications will pay Microsoft about US$500 million in license fees to use its software for Internet Protocol Television, or IPTV, service, which delivers high-quality video over phone lines to home television sets.
Reliance Communications plans to launch the service in March next year.
Different Target Market
The tie-up targets the mass market in India, whereas in the Western countries IPTV mostly focuses on affluent customers, Microsoft Chief Executive Steve Ballmer said.
“This partnership is unique because of the scale of development. We are moving further and faster than anywhere in the world … further and further down the economic chain,” Ballmer said.
There are currently about 100 million households in India with a television and the market is growing between 20 to 25 percent annually, fueled by the country’s rapid economic expansion in recent years.
More Control
With customers demanding personalized entertainment, an IPTV service backed by Microsoft software would allow subscribers more choice and control, said Anil Ambani, chairman of Reliance Communications.
Microsoft has had a presence in India since 1990. Reliance Communications is among the leaders in India’s fast-expanding mobile phone business.
Its network reaches 13,000 towns and 500,000 villages in the country.
