With the tagline-‘life is really colorful now, Beximco Communications Limited yesterday launched the brand name-‘RealVU’-of its Direct-to-Home (DTH) television during a press meet at a city hotel.
‘RealVU’- the first DTH service of the country will have its operational launch in between mid-April and May this year, officials said adding that they want to launch the service in line with the beginning of the Bengal New Year which will start in April 14.
In December 2013, the government awarded licenses to Beximco Communications Limited to launch DTH service in Bangladesh. It also received the necessary approval from Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) to launch the service in the country.
DTH is defined as the reception of satellite programmes with a personal dish in an individual home. The way DTH reaches a consumer’s home is different from the way traditional cable TV does.
In DTH, TV channels would be transmitted from the satellite to a small dish antenna mounted on the window or rooftop of the subscriber’s home. So the broadcaster directly connects to the user.
The middlemen like local cable operators are not there in the picture. It also improves the view quality and sounds and provides the viewer true digital television viewing experience.
“It will drastically change the viewing experience of the Bangladeshi TV audience,” said Dmitry Lapitskiy, CEO of Beximco Communications Ltd at the press meet adding: “The picture quality that will be provided by RealVU will be of much better quality than the analogue cable TV.”
Lapitskiy, a Russian national, told the event that the company is at the final stage to offer the new revolutionary format of TV viewing to the customers. He said that the RealVU will be initially launched in the metropolitan areas.
“It will be gradually launched in all districts and all corners of the country will be brought under this new digital TV viewing opportunity”, he said.
To avail the DTH service, the customers will initially need to have a set-top box and a dish-antenna and after the installation and first payment, they will be able to enjoy RealVU service.
Approximate monthly bill of the service will be Tk 300, where the subscribers will get over 100 channels with more than 26 Bengali channels and many international majors including five HD channels.
He said that the RealVU will have 24/7 customer support service. The RealVU customers will also have the opportunity to pay the monthly bill in different ways, he added.
Beximco Communications Limited has already finalized the list of distributors so that the customers can easily get the service from the nearest location.
Replying a query of the journalists whether the service cost will increase in future, Lapitskiy said that they will always keep the price affordable. “We want to provide the best service in the most cost effective manner”, he said.
Answering another query whether the launching of DTH will put negative impact on the cable industry of the country, he said it’s very difficult for them to measure immediately that what will be the business impact of DTH on cable industry.
“DTH is the latest technology and it offers the best TV viewing experience. We will give a new service to the Bangladesh’s people and they will decide whether to accept that or not”, he said.
Prakash Das, Director, Beximco Communication Ltd also spoke on the occasion.
RealVU is a joint venture between BEXIMCO and GS Group. The BEXIMCO Group is the largest private sector group in Bangladesh and the GS Group is a Russian investment and industry multispectral holding company operating in the telecommunication and other innovation markets and actively developing its own technologies. – Staff Reporter
