MUMBAI: Direct to home (DTH) operator Tata Sky has upgraded upgraded and expanded its entire DTH platform to the Ericsson's video compression platform AVP 4000 System Encoder.

The upgrade enables Tata Sky to substantially increase the bouquet of channels offered to subscribers while maintaining the highest quality of viewing experience.

Tata Sky CEO Harit Nagpal said, “For Tata Sky, it is of utmost importance to consistently deliver a high quality viewing experience to our subscribers. The Ericsson AVP 4000 System Encoder allows us to enhance picture quality, offer increased volumes of channels and content and launch new services, such as OTT, on the same platform.”

Ericsson head of region India Chris Houghton added, “Ericsson is committed to helping its customers overcome the challenges of satellite spectrum scarcity and meet increasing quality expectations of Indian consumers. The AVP 4000 System Encoder is designed to overcome today's bandwidth and delivery constraints by providing the necessary flexibility, velocity and agility to deploy new services within an extremely competitive landscape.”

Four out of the seven DTH operators in India are based on Ericsson's video compression technology. In March this year, Ericsson supported Tata Sky to launch the first commercial 4K video service in the subcontinent. Customers subscribing to the 4K service could watch video up to four times the resolution of the standard high definition (HD) video currently available.

According to Ericsson, the total mobile video traffic over the next six years (2015-2020) will be more than 17 times that of the last six (2009-2014). With availability of more content for an ever - increasing number of video-enabled devices, it is critical to maximize video delivery over available bandwidth and multiple networks.