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?