Yes, now you can watch Television on your Computer without using TV-Tuner card and a cable connection to empower it.
Even as I start writing this article, what is actually running on the back of my mind is that I may miss the live streaming action of India vs. South Africa match in the ICC World Cup tournament, scheduled today. Reason: No TV at my office premises.
So, if Airtel is planning to launch Internet TV for its 1.8 million broadband users, there are enough reasons to cheer as your favorite game / reality show can now be watched on the desktop monitor or laptop screen, being integrated with your computer system via internet.
While Bharti Airtel has already diversified beyond wireless telecom services into DTH and IPTV offerings, its Broadband TV is likely to be launched next week for Airtel broadband network users which will enable them to watch live television on internet in real time by accessing websites.
The 3 plans being offered by the company are Gold Pack, Night Pack and My Pack. Thus, there will be no data consumptions charges for the Airtel broadband users, except for the flat monthly access fees as mentioned below:
1) Gold Pack includes all 28 live channels, 19 Video on Demand channels and 12 movies for Rs.99/month.
2) Night Pack offers subscription for all channels at the rental of Rs.49/month that can be viewed between 9 PM to 9 AM.
3) My Pack offers monthly subscription for any 3 channels at Rs.49.
Amongst 28 live channels, 5 channels cater to the News segment – Bloomberg UTV, Focus TV, HY TV, India News and Live India. UTV Bindass and Ne HiFi constitute as the only Entertainment channels. Discovery and Animal Planet are the prominent channels from the Infotainment category.
At this point, readers should not confuse Airtel’s Broadband TV offering from its Internet Protocol TV service which was launched couple of years back. Internet television involves streaming the content directly to a media player from the list of channel directory, while IPTV consumers require a STB.
However, the exhaustible list of channels being offered by Airtel is awfully short of prominent entertainment and other news channels people might like to watch. Once those high TRP-gaining channels are taken on a roll, the services would be more meaningful.
Do you feel IPTV and Internet TV can both prosper at the same time?
i think the internet tv will be working slow as continous streaming will not be available.If lots of user connect at once then will it be feasible for us to watch tv without interruption
if u miss live match streaming in ……..,
log on http://extracover.net
not my site
I think 99 Rs for a month is not bad to watch TV on your computer. I’am subscribing.
Zak,
Absolutely, Rs.99 per month is quite reasonable. The charges are much lower than usual cable connection charges for a TV.
However, I am still not satisfied with the limited number of channel distribution. They also need to inculcate prominent channels like Star TV, Zee TV, Sony TV, Sab TV, Colors, Imagine TV, etc. Also missing from the list is ESPN, Ten Sports, etc.
Hey Viral
Have been hearing this for years. Are they really rolling it out.
Have personally used “IPTV” as early movers in Delhi & I’m still a very big fan of it. No such service in anywhere else in India
Can you point to the news / announcement to know more about it.
IPTV will work in India provided they also move on to #HDfication like other DTH providers.
Hey Rohit,
The news is that Bharti is going to roll-out this service next week itself. The company has also displayed its subscription plans as shown in the images above.
So, this time it should not a hoax call :)
Rohit,
I’ve attached a link to the related article in 3rd paragraph bound with the word ‘Airtel’. Pls press on that link, for more news.
Thanks Viral
But that’s not IPTV
Still sad!!!
Rohit,
I’ve pointed out in the article that Internet TV differs from IPTV. So, dont confuse between them. IPTV needs installing Set Top Box, unlike Internet TV.
(Airtel calls Internet TV as Broadband TV)
But you need to have the Bharti service in order to get this. Another alternative are software services like TVDevo.com . I think it’s cloud-based. It offers a pretty wide range of TV shows and some live tv. Updates on each program restart. For full length movies, it’s not the best choice, but the tv shows and broadcasts are good.
Monica,
Actually, not necessary to have Bharti’s broadband network in this. But, it is preferable to have one. Let me explain you how it works:
If you are availing services of Bharti’s broadband, you pay fixed rental fees for using Bharti’s Internet TV.
But, if you’re not using Bharti’s broadband network, and still wish to use it’s Internet TV, you need to pay fixed rental fees & content charges both.
To hell with Airtel services, as they continue to cheat the Airtel broadband customers, including the old, loyal ones due to their FUP(fair usage policy)on speeds. They drop your speed to half or even 1/4th when you reach a certain amount of having used the net for browsing, downloads etc. It is so shocking to note that in 2011 Airtel expects its customers to stick to plain emails and plain google kind of search only?? when HD content is available to the entire planet on youtube, and many other websites. Airtel thinks giving upto 30-40 GB of limits even on a high speed 2mbps is enough!! One feels like saying, get down to planet earth Airtel, and save your broadband business, because loads of your loyal customers are walking out of your broadband services. Airtel continues with its 3G bandwagon without realising what its doing to its broadband customers.