Provider of Direct-to-Home (DTH) services, Sun Direct, on Wednesday sashayed high-definition services in India, following the acquirement of the permit for HD broadcast.

Sun Direct, an 80:20 JV between the Maran family and Malaysia’s Astro Group, has signed up over 3-million subscribers in March 2009 to reach the 3.1 million mark.

“This achievement qualifies us to be the No 2 DTH service provider (in India). In the coming fiscal we look to occupy the pole position,” said Tony D’Silva, Chief Operating Officer, Sun Direct.

The HDTV technology, with its high resolution, is believed to enhance viewer experience by about five times over the normal TV.

Catering to a niche audience in its initial phase, the service will start off with two channels, one each for Tamil movies and Telugu movies--at a cost of Rs 10,000 per subscription, before it moves on to its plan of eight channels.

With regard to set top boxes needed for the HD services, the company has forged an arrangement with Korean chaebol Samsung.

Optimistic about the potential of HDTV, D’Silva said that the 20 percent of the 15 million LCDs sold in the coming year will be of the HD format and it is eyeing to capture 20 percent of this market.

Sun Direct has committed Rs. 150 crore as the marketing budget for its services, which will take off with the Commonwealth Games 2010 that will commence the HDTV wave in the country, as the event  is set to be broadcast on the HDTV platform, said the company.