he launch of Airtel Internet TV is a deciding chapter in the battle between traditional ways of watching television like cable and DTH and video streaming services like Netflix and Amazon Prime Video. The old guard is facing a very real threat from these new kids on the block who offer thousands of hours of content at a considerably cheaper cost that their traditional counterparts. In many countries in the West such as the US, many people have already started 'cutting the cord' so as to speak and ditching cable/DTH entirely in favour of streaming platforms. India has been a little late to the party but the arrival of Amazon Prime Video, Netflix and India's very own Hotstar has accelerated the spread and popularity of these services and many people have started to try them out. While other DTH platforms are scratching their heads on how to tackle this 'menace', Airtel has come up with a very ingenious solution. Why fight them when you can join them? The result is Airtel Internet TV which promises to marry the two forms of media consumption together 'seamlessly'. So here is the Internet TV -- a set top box that not only allows you to access Airtel's full bouquet of 500+ live TV channels, but also content from online services like YouTube and Netflix. You can also install apps from the Google Play store and access Google services like Play music and Play Movies and TV. So, how does it work? Does this marriage work out well? Or does it collapse in a smouldering heap? Let's dive in and find out. Set top box and installation Let's get one thing out of the way first -- the installation was not smooth. Airtel took hours to activate the subscription and there was a lot of confusion regarding the status of my subscription. As with all DTH connections, the Internet TV also requires a dish antenna to be set up on the roof or balcony of your house which is connected to the STB (set top box) via a singular cable. The STB itself is quite bigger than regular SD or HD boxes but much smaller that HD DVR set top boxes which come with a HDD built-in. The black coloured STB looks classy enough with a silver coloured ring around the front fascia and a red coloured Airtel logo at the front. The whole red Airtel logo remains lit up all the time -- which annoyed me to no end at night. I ended up putting black tape on it.
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