HFCL Infotel joins hands with Star India

Televisionpoint.com Correspondent
HFCL Infotel Ltd., the private telephony operator in Punjab, has started offering cable TV services through its telephone network to its 3,10,000 subscribers.

Connect Broadband Services, a wholly-owned subsidiary of HFCL Infotel, has entered into a strategic tie up with Star India Private Ltd (SIPL) for carrying its TV channels and content to its subscribers. HFCL Infotel has become the first telecom company to offer cable TV services on a commercial basis. The SIPL-CBSL tie up will also enable subscribers to access digital content and other IP-based services such as video-ondemand and pay per view.

The tie up will also distribute cable TV signals through its optical fibre cable (OFC) network to other cable TV operators. The main advantage in using an OFC network is that the quality of signal is much better than the conventional network. This also enables new generation interactive services. HFCL Infotel is already offering cable TV services to its subscribers in Punjab and Chandigarh, where it is operating fixedline and CDMA mobile telephone services.

"Currently, CBSL is rolling out cable broadcast services in Punjab and Chandigarh. In next few months, it will offer services in other states like Delhi, UP, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh and Jammu and Kashmir, The network has also enabled the launch of triple play services, ie, telephone, high speed internet and cable TV that has positioned Connect as the first telecom operator to launch such a service in India." said Surendra Lunia, chief executive officer of Himachal Infotel.