Sun Microsystems will provide IT infrastructure solutions and support to Tata Sky Ltd, a joint venture between Tata and Star, for the company's direct-to-home television service in India in mid-2006.

As per the understanding, Tata Sky will be powered by a combination of Sun Fire E20 servers running 'UltraSPARC(R) IV+' based processors and Sun Fire Workgroup servers, a company release said in Mumbai on Monday.

The servers would run the Solaris(TM) 10 operating system with Sun N1(TM) System Manager to ensure maximum up-time, fault recovery and load management, it said.

"Sun's offerings will enable us with a technology infrastructure that is best-of-class and geared to deliver high service level standards that we are targeting," said Tata Sky CEO Vikram Kaushik.

Sun Microsystems India Pvt Ltd managing director Bhaskar Pramanik said: "Our products are highly capable and reliable, making it easier for us to deliver mission critical applications for the most exciting new DTH TV project in the world."

Tata Sky is investing in building a high quality digital infrastructure in the country to offer a superior television viewing experience to Indian households.

The company has already booked 12 KU band transponders from India's most modern communication satellite 'INSAT 4 A' to start the services and would be paying an annual revenue of Rs 40 crore (Rs 400 million) to Antrix Corporation, the commercial arm of the Indian Space Research Organisation.

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