Tata Sky Slashes Prices of SD And HD STBs: Is it Competition, or Challenge from Netflix And Hotstar?

Leading direct to home (DTH) service provider Tata Sky has slashed the prices of the standard definition (SD) and high definition (HD) set top boxes (STBs). This comes a month after Tata Sky had made another downward revision to the prices. This means that the new SD STB is now priced at Rs 1,399 while a new HD STB will cost Rs 1,499. In late May, Tata Sky had reduced the prices of the SD STB to Rs 1,499 while the HD STB at that time was priced at Rs 1,699.

Then there is the higher spec Tata Sky+ HD box, which enables you to pause Live TV, record up to as many as three channels simultaneously and more. This is still priced at Rs 9,300. Last but not least is the Tata Sky 4K STB, which costs Rs 6,400 as before—though the lack of any 4K content in terms of 4K channels is a huge stumbling block.

At the time, Tata Sky had also announced that its STBs will now be available for sale in offline retail stores as well. Till then, you could only order a new Tata Sky connection via the company directly—and the installation team would bring the STB at the time your connection was to be installed. This will now mean easier availability of the new STBs for someone who wants a new Tata Sky connection, and also the option to actually see the boxes in person before selecting one.

This is just another attempt by DTH companies, which include Dishtv, d2h and Airtel Digital TV, to try and prevent the churn of existing customers and the loss of potential new customers to over-the-top (OTT) streaming services such as Netflix, Amazon Video, Hotstar, Voot, Sony Liv and Zee5, to name a few. Recently, Tata Sky has unveiled the Amazon Fire TV Stick – Tata Sky Edition, which bundles the premium subscription for Amazon Prime, Hotstar and Hungama for instance, for a price of Rs 249 with your existing Tata Sky subscription.