Faced with the recent hype around direct-to-home services, a bunch of the country's big cable operators have come together to drive a hard bargain with broadcasters, content-providers and set-top-box makers.

Slated to be operationalised by October this year, the consortium will undertake a Rs 100-crore (Rs 1 billion) digitisation programme to match DTH's picture and sound quality.

It is expected to include 30 big local cable operators, boasting of 15 million subscribers across Mumbai, Kolkata, Bangalore and Nagpur -- nearly a fourth of the country's total cable and satellite homes -- by the end of the first year.

The cable operators include the Mumbai-based Home Cable Entertainment India and UCN Cable of Nagpur.

DTH has been the flavour of the season ever since Tata-Sky made a high-decibel launch of its service on August 15. Zee group's Dish TV, the other private DTH broadcaster, too, has stepped up on its advertising.

As one entity, the cable operators will seek to raise the carriage fees charged from broadcasters to carry their channels, as well as the share of revenue generated from subscription to pay channels.

"It could also lead to consumers being charged lower prices for set-top-boxes as we achieve economies of scale," said Ajay Khamankar, director, UCN Cable.

The consortium is looking at digitisation as the mode for offering value-added services -- pay-per-view programmes, movies on demand, interactive gaming, electronic programme guide. These are the carrots dangled before subscribers by DTH operators that are luring them away.

The digitisation drive will also do away with the thorny issue of prime band viewing, since all channels will have identical quality. In analog viewing, only a dozen or so channels can occupy the prime band, which ensures the best quality.

According to sources, the cable grouping may also buy films directly from producers on a revenue-sharing formula, and have exclusive content to offer. So far, the fragmented cable industry has been dealing with broadcasters on an individual basis, reducing its bargaining power.

"This has been undertaken to get a better bargain from broadcasters and MSOs by using their combined strength. We will see when they come to us," said a leading MSO based in Mumbai.