Bharti Airtel can certainly leverage its scale in the mobile services business. But in DTH, it has a tough challenge.

The Essel Group (Dish TV) moved first and was followed by Tata Sky. Then Bharti Airtel came along with Reliance Communication. Sun Direct queered the pitch with its low-priced offer.

In the absence of any independent audit, the company is reluctant to talk about market share. "We are better than fifth in all circles," says Joshi.

Since the communication played on the magic aspect with a plethora of celebrities, Bharti Airtel has had to innovate continuously.

Its set-top box, claims Joshi, is more aesthetic than rivals because most households prefer to keep the television in the drawing room. It is the only DTH operator to offer one remote control stick for the set-top box and the television. In case there is a power failure, the set-top box locks the channel and when power returns, the viewer goes back to the same channel.

More could be on the way. According to Chandrasekar, the roadmap for DTH innovations is ready till the end of 2010.