The DTH service is Pakistan is once again postponed due to some bureaucratic red tape hurdles. They said that they have been trying to launch DTH in Pakistan since 2003. It is now important for the people to know about how to get Direct-To-Home service in Pakistan.

The DTH service is worked by the linking of TV transmission from the station to the set top box of viewers at their homes through the satellite. There are millions of Pakistani subscribers, who get the DTH service from abroad and they pay the dues to the companies, which provide their services to them. with this DTH service, you can get better picture quality, better sound and more TV channels and the breakdown during the transmission will also be less if it is compared to the traditional cable TV.

Why do we need a DTH when we already have cable TV service available everywhere?

The Cable TV service was introduced in late 1990s in the big and some selected cities. Then this business was propagated and now it is available in almost all parts of the country. The traditional cable TV is provided with the new connections, monthly charges and at the affordable rates but the quality and reliability of cable TV is not satisfactory. There are many common problems in cable TV in Pakistan, which are:

• Frequent breakdowns: In the cable TV, the sub standard wires and connectors are used, which can cause frequent breakdowns and the blackout screens and poor reception of the services is quite often.
• Keep changing channels’ positions: The cable operators keep changing the number position of the channels and they can access the channel number by pressing a single button. It is difficult for the viewers to keep their number of favorite channel on their desired position.
• Doesn’t work in load shedding: There is consistent load shedding in almost all parts of the country and most of the cable operators do not have their proper arrangements of UPS system, which is installed but the cable TV services are not broadcast during load shedding.
• No High Definition quality: The viewers can get the best video resolution on most of the cable operators’ network is 480p or less. As the low cost TV sets supports 720p, which shows that you will receive very poor video on bigger screens.
• Fewer Channels: Small number of cable TV providers offer over 150 channels. They receive only acceptable video quality on limited number of TV channels on their set and international channels like AXN, Toonami, DW, Discovery and CCTV Documentary 9 are not provided in most of the areas.

Most of the people want to have illegal Indian DTH and they get it for 7000-12000 rupees and it is installed and the monthly charges of Dish TV start from 850 rupees. In this way, Pakistan becomes the big black market of illegal Indian DTH TV sets.

It is estimated that about 5 million Pakistanis use Indian DTH services and Indian DTH service providers earn over US$300 million every year from Pakistan and PEMRA did not take action against them or block the DTH service and take step to introduce their own Pakistani DTH service, so that they can save this money going out of Pakistan. PEMRA only warned the smugglers to stop this illegal business of DTH service providing to millions of Pakistani users.

When should we get DTH? Is it the right time to get one?

It is imperative for government of Pakistan to launch their own DTH service so that they can provide better TV viewing experience, earn more revenue, create new job opportunities and stop the illegal provision of Indian DTH service in Pakistan. India launched DTH service in 2004 and now it has 7 different operators providing services. Bangladesh, Nepal and Sri Lanka have also developed their own DTH service and now Pakistan is left behind all these country, which does not have its own DTH service.

How should DTH work in Pakistan?

The auction process is going on and we will see the first Pakistani DTH service in start of 2017 and they should get at least 3 licenses to break the monopoly in this industry. The DTH service providers will also some problems and challenges. They will have to offer good incentives and impressive packages to the Pakistani DTH users, who are already, switched with the Indian DTH service providers and they have to make it affordable for a common man in Pakistan to avail this facility. Now everyone wishes to know about the DTH service in Pakistan and it is said that it will be very affordable.

The users can check the price of the new connection and the monthly charges of the DTH service in India but it is also said that it would not be cheap in Pakistan. We do not have official and legal DTH service, which is available at the moment and the users can use it with the following option to watch the satellite TV channels.

Various Pakistanis rely on the analogue cable TV and they have illegal Indian DTH service, which is followed by the PTCL Smart TV and DWN (Digital Wireless Network) and they may look the best option. It is not DTH but DTT (Digital Terrestrial Television) and it has limited coverage in Lahore, Karachi and Islamabad.

Pakistani DTH operators can offer affordable new connections, good customer service support and monthly charges and it costs the monthly charges more than 600-700 rupees. The operators can introduce different packages like reasonable value pack at 500-700 rupees, with less than 100 channels at price of 350 rupees per month. The operators offer legal TV channels in Pakistan. Operators offer legal TV channels like Animal Planet, National Geographic, DW and Discovery. PEMRA should take step for the provision of various television channels, which have landing rights in Pakistan.

The quality of service and the DTH service delivers good quality during the clear days and they can face problems when the weather is foggy, rainy or cloudy. If the consumers are not provided the fine quality service of DTH, then he will not be satisfied with the service.

When we start providing the affordable DTH service to the viewers in Pakistan, then illegal DTH Indian service will be stopped automatically. The viewers will also get better TV viewing experience, get better jobs and government will earn more revenue with the introduction of our own DTH service in Pakistan.