Hinduja Group will roll out its headend-in-the-sky (HITS) platform in India built on Thomson Video Networks technology, having made significant investments in the NXT Digital platform.
NXT Digital is an initiative of Grant Investrade, a wholly owned subsidiary of Hinduja Ventures. A broadcast facility in Noida has been designed and purpose-built to provide services to the entire country.
Thomson has provided a wide range of equipment and solutions for the broadcast center and master headend platform, including its ViBE SD and HD broadcast encoders and its multiplexing and network management system.
India is currently going through a government-mandated digitization program and it is expected that over 110 million homes outside of the top 42 cities will make the transition from analog to digital over the next 17 months.
Working with media and entertainment consultancy Castle Media, the Hinduja Group, which also owns and operates a pan-Indian cable network with over eight million subscribers, determined that satellite would be the most reliable mode of delivery to these markets because it can meet last-mile delivery challenges and is the fastest way to reach and support network operators at the far interiors of the country.