NEW DELHI: Kalanithi Maran-promoted Sun Direct expects to grow its subscriber base from 4.3 million to six million by the end of this fiscal.

“A major part of our subscriber additions would come during the festive season. We will be having six million subscribers by the end of this fiscal," Sun Direct COO Tony D’Silva said here today on the sidelines of India Digital Networks Summit 2009.

Indiantelevision.com had reported earlier that Sun Direct is targeting a revenue of Rs 10 billion and six million subscriber base for FY‘10. The southern DTH major, which launched a high-definition (HD) service in April this year, is still to increase the ARPU (average revenue per user) levels from the lowest in the industry. “In the southern region, Sun Direct has an Arpu between Rs 75-100, while in the northern belt it falls in the region of Rs 125-140,” said D’Silva.

D’Silva also said that the HD service is getting good response from consumers and he is expecting it to grow in the festival season. “We have got 3000 subscribers for Sun Direct HD. These are early days but we expect to get a boost from the Commonwealth Games,” he added.