From Kerala with DTH services to the Gulf

KOCHI: Every time Jaffer of Mattanchery flies home from Dubai on leave, the mango pickle made by his mother is a ‘must’ in his backpack while on return trip.But this time, he was keener on taking along the DTH receiver than his favourite pickle.And Jaffer is not the only one. Of late, around 25,000 DTH connections in the city have ‘migrated’ to Gulf countries.As the service will cost them dear there, the expatriates prefer to secure a connection here and take it back.“A member of the family who stays here would take a connection from any of the service providers here. Then it will be installed in the house and activated,” said Saneesh, a DTH connection provider.For securing a connection in the state, it will cost around Rs 2,000, whereas in the Gulf one needs to shell out close to Rs 10,000.“It’s like a cell phone. It will take a day for activation and once activated, you can use the connection from anywhere. After one or two days, they will take the receiver of the DTH to the work places abroad,” Saneesh said.“The family members back here will recharge the services on their expiry,” he said. Earlier, the ID proof of the customer was a must while taking the connection. But now it is not mandatory.“We sell around 15 DTHs for the customers abroad every month,” said Manoj who runs an electronic shop here.The service providers don’t have the facilities to trace where the device has been installed.