NEW DELHI: The Prasar Bharati Corp, overseeing the functioning of India's pubcasters Doordarshan and All India Radio, has sought the government's approval to start KU-band transmission for remote areas, starting with the north-eastern part of the country.

If this proposal is given the go-ahead, DD may well be the first one to start a DTH service in the country; though with a difference: the service will not be as costly as normal DTH services are round the globe. 

According to officials in India's information and broadcasting ministry, Prasar Bharati wants to start Ku-band transmission in N-E India to bring on to the television map remote areas of the country where normal terrestrial or cable TV services are unable to penetrate.

The officials pointed out that Prasar Bharati-government talks are on to see the feasibility of such a project as a major part of the funding is likely to come from the government.

Meanwhile, Prasar Bharati has started C-band cable transmissions in certain parts of N-E India in a bid to take DD and other private satellite channels to places where its terrestrial services are not available as also to counter cross-border propaganda by some neighbouring countries. Certain states and cities in N-E India are open to TV propaganda material from countries like China, Myanmar and Bhutan. 

But the official was quick to point out that such a KU-band service should not be construed as a full-fledged DTH service. 

At one time, Prasar Bharati was also in talks with the partly government owned Videsh Sanchar Nigam Ltd and state-controlled Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Ltd, running telecom networks in Delhi and Mumbai, to jointly put together a proper DTH platform. But the talks did not make much headway owing to the huge investment that is needed for a DTH service and related infrastructure to man it.