Hinduja Group's HITS platform NXT Digital launched in India

NXT Digital will provide over 500 TV channels and services in MPEG-4 digital quality to Last Mile Owners and Multi System Operators. It will facilitate over 100 million homes to go digital in Phase III and IV DAS markets

BestMediaInfo Bureau | Mumbai | September 18, 2015

The Hinduja Group's Head-In-The-Sky service, NXT Digital, was flagged off in Delhi by Union Minister of Finance, Corporate Affairs, and Union Information and Broadcasting Minister, Arun Jaitley on September 16, 2015. Also present on the occasion were Ashok Hinduja, Chairman, Hinduja Ventures and other senior dignitaries and officials of the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting.

Inaugurating the NXT Digital HITS platform, Jaitley said, “Multiple carriage technologies will provide customers with more choice in technology platforms.”

NXT Digital will provide viewers access to over 500 international, national, regional and local television channels of their choice, besides a host of other services like e-applications and TV everywhere.

Customers in Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Maharashtra, Punjab and Karnataka will now have greater access to channels of their choice, with other states soon joining in. The platform is expected to give a fillip to the Digital India initiative and Make in India mission.

“With the launch of the service, we are delighted to have partnered the Government's laudable mission to bring in complete digitalisation for social development and national growth,” said Ashok Hinduja, while addressing a press meet.

He added, “NXT Digital will enable thousands of entrepreneurial cable operators to make a transition from analog to digital across an estimated 120 million homes in India. All the application development for the NXT Digital platform has been designed and built in India. This cutting-edge technology and software will allow cable networks and subscribers alike to harness the power of global innovative solutions right here in India.”

The NXT Digital Broadcast Centre is a state-of-the-art next-generation MPEG-4 facility that has been designed and purpose-built to provide a variety of services to the cable distribution fraternity and their customers all across India. The technology is future-proof and will offer enhanced television experiences for the subscriber whilst allowing the cable fraternity to manage their networks effortlessly using new-age 'cloud' solutions, with a minimal investment. The back-end technology systems are based on sophisticated and complex architectures that can even deliver unique services like television access on mobile devices and tablets as well as information dissemination services to laser-targeted localities by various agencies for emergency alerts, etc.

The HITS project is an ambitious initiative to not only facilitate over 100 million homes go digital in Phase III and IV DAS markets, but to also raise the standards of quality of service. The total project outlay is envisaged at over Rs 5,000 crore as the business continues to design and develop new products and services for a growing customer base as well as strive to enhance its own standards to ensure viewers are always ahead.

Tony D'Silva, MD, Grant Investrade, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Hinduja Ventures and which is leading the NXT Digital HITS platform project, said, “With its national footprint, NXT Digital platform, which has been designed on the basis of exhaustive feedback from the cable fraternity, is structured to benefit all stakeholders – the operators, customers and the Government. Not only does it help cable operators and MSOs take their businesses to the next level, but it also diligently ensures compliance with the guidelines of the various regulatory bodies.”

He further said, “After the advent of DTH, the NXT Digital HITS Broadcast Centre has put India on the global map. It is a state-of-the-art facility that has been designed and purpose-built to provide a variety of services, including over 500 TV channels and services in top class MPEG-4 digital quality to LMOs (Last Mile Owners) and MSOs (Multi System Operators). In just about two months since the brand was announced, it has travelled across 400 districts in 20 states to contact and inform the cable fraternity there about its offerings.”

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