DD’s Freedish expands to 104 channels by the end of March

Freedish, the DTH platform of Doordarshan(DD), is gearing up to offer 104 channels by the end of March, with only 80 channels at present.

According to the Director General of Doordarshan, Supriya Sahu, five DD channels are available through digital terrestrial transmission (DTT). This includes National News, Sports, Kisan and local.

Doordarshan, aiming to roll out MPEG-4 set-top boxes (STBs), Sahu said: “The new initiative is that we are introducing conditional access system in our set-top boxes. We are getting into a new technology which is MPEC-4. So, by March-end, we will be coming out with new set-top boxes for Doordarshan, enhancing the number of existing channels from 80 to 104”.

Also, she stated that: “DTT is already available in 16 cities. By the end of March this year, DTT will be available in Hyderabad, Srinagar and Thiruvananthapuram. By 2018, other 44 cities will become digital (where DTT will then be available)”.