According to information reaching us, Dialog TV is now replacing STB's for subscribers who are on other packages. So far they have replaced only those who were on the "Gold" package & those from other packages who had subscribed to Discovery Turbo or Setanta prior to the moving of the said channels to the MPEG4 transponder, but recently it seems that those on lower packages are also receiving calls from Dialog TV informing them of STB replacement visits. As per the information, these subscribers haven't requested for HD nor have they activated Discovery Turbo or Setanta.
This is indeed great news as this suggests Dialog TV will be able to increase transponder capacity by switching all existing channels to MPEG4 DVB-S2. We hope these replacements will be completed soon enabling Dialog TV to 1) increase the number of international channels, 2) bring back MTV India, 3) stop the present time sharing of certain channels and allocate them each a separate channel, 4) add the remaining local channels to the platform, 5) increase the HD channel offerings.
This seems like a tall order for Dialog TV to fulfill but a MPEG4 DVB-S2 platform with the existing transponders will be able to free up sufficient transponder space to carry out all of the above. Hopefully Dialog TV doesn't let go of some transponders with the increase in capacity.
The time taken to replace all STB's depends solely on how fast Dialog TV wants to switch to MPEG4, with subscribers unhappy over the temporary replacement of MTV India, it looks like Dialog TV will carry this out quickly.
Please keep us updated on the latest on Dialog TV as the days progress.