Case Study
Airtel Xstream - India's first Hybrid set-top box powered by Android TV
DTH Customers in 2022
Winner - Tech Peripheral of the Year
Background
Growing broadband penetration is driving the popularity of online content, particularly in urban homes. Bharti Airtel – a leading DTH provider and a broadcast telecom company, was looking to combine Linear TV and OTT, to enable an end-to-end entertainment experience with the convenience of a single device.
Tata Elxsi helped with a strategic design and indigenous solution, to transform TV viewing for Indian consumers.
The result – India’s first Hybrid DTH Set-top box, powered by Android TV, that brings the best of OTT to the TV screen along with a bouquet of 500+ satellite TV channels.
Challenge
We learned that consumers want to have all their content in one place.
The solution had to integrate traditional TV and streaming videos. It had to also enable seamless switching from Online to Offline Content and eliminate the hassle of connecting multiple devices to your TV. In addition, the whole experience had to be smooth and easy to use.
"Tata Elxsi has been a valuable partner in our latest innovation – Airtel Xstream. Their engineering and integration expertise in the OTT segment has helped us in building a world-class product.”
Sunil Taldar, CEO - Airtel Digital TV
Solution
Tata Elxsi developed an innovative solution that combines both traditional TV and OTT services in a single box. It offers a convenient, one-stop-solution for entertainment aggregation, simplifying content discovery, provides enhanced family viewing experience along with parental controls.
The innovative STB platform is powered by Tata Elxsi’s Android TV solution suite, which includes custom operator-tier launcher, OTA and iCX. The customised OTA (Over The Air) platform helps in delivering periodic software updates seamlessly for an enhanced customer experience. While the iCX (intelligent CX) platform offers intelligent monitoring, real-time diagnostics and troubleshooting.
Tata Elxsi designed a platform that enables Bharti Airtel to continuously deliver new features and enhancements to delight its subscribers.
Impact
Launched in 2017, Airtel Internet TV is first-of-its-kind hybrid DTH set-top-box in India that transforms any TV into a Smart TV.
Since the launch, home subscribers have increased from 2.13 million (2016-17) to 17.2 million(2021-22). Bharti Airtel successfully added 1.4 million DTH customers during the year.
The solution also won the ‘Tech Peripheral of the Year’ award at the NEXA NDTV Gadget Guru Awards.
Services rendered
Tata Elxsi
- Consulting & System Integration
- Custom operator-tier launcher
- Integration of Tata Elxsi Over the Air (OTA) update & Remote management solution(iCX)
- Integration and testing with operator backend
- Post-deployment maintenance and upgrades