Jaipur, Aug 28 (IANS) Optical fibre manufacturer Aksh Optifibre Ltd, in association with Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd (BSNL), Thursday announced the launch of its IPTV brand ‘icontrol’ in Kukus of Jaipur district, making it the first IPTV service to be launched in rural India. Simultaneously, Aksh also announced the commercial launch of icontrol in Jaipur, which will now enable BSNL broadband customers to avail IPTV (internet protocol television) service.

Icontrol is a TV connection that allows the viewer to watch programmes in more than 120 channels, and also offers an extensive movie library with Hollywood and Bollywood titles at no extra cost.

This service will be launched in other cities of Rajasthan in six to eight weeks, the company said.

“It is a great initiative of BSNL and Aksh to provide IPTV service to rural and urban cities of Rajasthan,” Telecom Secretary Siddhartha Behura said in a statement.

“This initiative will empower villagers with modern telecom facilities and enable rural masses to have global connectivity and content,” he added.

Speaking to reporters, Aksh managing director K.S. Choudhari said: “Until now rural India was untouched with limited medium of entertainment. To eradicate this limitation, Aksh is proud to announce the first time launch of IPTV in rural India at an affordable price.”

“This expansion of the service from urban to rural markets highlights the growing demand for convergent services and interactivity in television viewing in India,” he added.

IPTV major UTStarcom, which has invested in the project, said the company was pleased to work with Aksh and BSNL. “We are pleased to be associated with Aksh and BSNL to take this service to 20 more cities in the country.” said Vijay Yadav, vice-president and managing director of South UTStarcom-South Asia operations.

With attractive tariff of only Rs.150 per month, icontrol will offer subscribers in Jaipur and other cities of Rajasthan, channels from Star, Sony, NEO, TEN Sports and many more.

A Set Top Box will be provided free to all subscribers against a fully refundable security deposit of Rs.999.