ITV

Category: DTH

  • Videocon d2h consumer will have a wider choice of Hungama movies, says Dhoot

    MUMBAI: Videocon d2h has partnered with Hungama Play for its HD smart connect set-top box.

    Hungama Play a video-on-demand service, offering over 35,000 hours of video content in 12 languages, including movies, television series, kids shows, live events, music videos along with short films and documentaries. The content includes Hollywood, Bollywood, Fun Kids content which is sure to enthral. The service is available to consumers with various subscription options including a select free offer.

    HD Smart set top box (connected set top box) converts any existing TV into a Smart TV besides showing 650 Channels and services in HD and SD. The DTH service allows one to watch their favorite channels in SD and HD, the Connected set top box allows one to browse content from applications residing on STB.

    These applications will enhance the pleasure of accessing content on a bigger screen thus making it a family event rather than solo watching on a smaller screen. HD smart connect set-top box will work as a tool for personalisation, engagement and new customer experiences and with internet connectivity, one can convert one’s TV into a smart TV using it.

    Videocon d2h executive chairman Saurabh Dhoot said, “Our HD smart connect set-top box aims to provide an app store experience. We are delighted to have Hungama available as an app; our consumer will have a wider choice of movies with Hungama coming on board”

    Videocon d2h CEO Anil Khera said, “Our HD smart connect set-top box has now a wide range of curated apps to meet every entertainment need of consumers. With Hungama Play, consumers can access wide range of Indian Movies as these will be available on demand.

    Hungama Play CEO Siddhartha Roy said, “Through this technology, we hope to reach a larger segment of users and offer them an enhanced entertainment experience with the best of Hollywood, Bollywood, Regional movies, kids content, music videos and more, all on their television screens.”

  • Dish TV expects significant growth from DAS P III & IV markets

    MUMBAI: Even as India’s consolidating MSOs race ahead to digitise India’s cable TV infrastructure — albeit in fits and starts — in smaller towns and villages, direct to home platform (DTH) owners expect to capture a slice of the action there. Amongst those who have been pushing in the heartlands include state-owned pubcaster’s DD FreeDish. And, it has registered some gains there. Dish TV — which is slated to complete its merger with Videocon d2h later this year — is also hoping to partake the TV subscriber harvest in heartland India.

    “We are anticipating that 70 per cent of the new connections over the next two years would come from those living in small towns and rural markets,” Dish TV CEO Arun Kapoor told PTI, adding that, “it would be primarily because of implementation of Digital Addressable System (DAS) in Phase III and IV.” Of Dish TV’s 15.5 million subscriber base at present, around 35 per cent are from top 100 cities, and the remainder from small towns and rural markets.

    Dish TV is expecting the Average Revenue Per User (ARPU) of the DTH industry to grow over two-fold in the next five years to Rs. 450-500. ARPU would increase from the current industry average of Rs. 150-160. This would be primarily driven by growth in number of HD channels, Value Added Services on DTH platform and implementation of DAS,” Kapoor added.

    Dish TV, the Zee group DTH service arm, is hoping to formally complete the merger with Videocon Group’s DTH arm Videocon d2h by October 2017 after receiving the required regulatory approvals. The merged company would have a subscriber base of 27.2 million, making it the largest DTH service provider in the industry. The merged entity will be renamed as Dish TV Videocon Ltd., the total revenue of Dish TV and Videocon d2h together was Rs. 5,915.8 crore on a pro-forma basis for the fiscal ended 31 March, 2016.

    Dish TV has an active subscriber base of 15.5 million, while that of Videocon d2h stands at around 12.2 million. The DTH industry has around 62 million active subscribers.

    Kapoor said it was soon expecting approvals from regulatory bodies such as National Company Law Tribunal, the Competition Commission of India, and stock exchanges.

    According to Kapoor, the DTH industry, which has players such as Sun Direct, TataSky, Airtel digital TV, Reliance Digital, has a current growth rate of 10 to 12 per cent.

    Also Read  :

    Migrate registration to GST regime, DishTV persuades distributors & trade partners

    DishTV expands its portfolio by 23 channels

    Active DTH subscriber growth subdued in Oct-Dec’16 quarter

  • Migrate registration to GST regime, DishTV persuades distributors & trade partners

    MUMBAI: DishTV India Limited has announced that it has become the first DTH Company who has fully migrated to the GST regime in almost all the states of India (except for Himachal Pradesh who have not opened the migration).

    Dish TV is Asia Pacific’s largest direct-to-home (DTH) company and part of one of India’s biggest media conglomerate – the ‘Zee’ Group. Dish TV has on its platform more than 615 channels & services including 30 audio channels and over 68 HD channels & services.

    Being the active partner of the biggest Indirect Tax reform, the company has persuaded and asked all their distributors and trade partners to migrate their registration to the GST regime and become a part of nation building and digital India. DishTV has a distribution network of over 2,272 distributors & over 243,740 dealers that span across 9,431 towns in India.

    Furthermore, the company has taken the pledge not to deal with the distributors and channel partners who have not been registered under GST regime till the enactment of Act.

    Now, DishTV has announced that 75% of distributors and trade partners have migrated to GST regime and have contributed their efforts along with the company in the objective of ‘One Nation and One Tax’ laid down by the prime minister.

    Dish TV leverages multiple satellite platforms including NSS-6, Asiasat 5, SES-8 and GSAT-15 which makes its total bandwidth capacity equal 846 MHz, amongst the largest held by any DTH player in India.

  • DD FreeDish poised to increase channel capacity to 250

    NEW DELHI: Doordarshan DTH platform FreeDish, which already has a capacity of 124 channels including HD channels, will soon getting approval to increase this capacity to 250 channels over the next two years. The minister of state for information and broadcasting Rajyavardhan Rathore told the Parliament that Doordarshan’s DD National Channel has been uplinked in the High Definition (HD) format since 1 January this year.

    With analogue having been largely switched off, many stakeholders feel that FreeDish is the best option in Phase IV which covers rural India. The Ministry had itself said  in the Parliament last month that HITS (Head-end In The Sky), private DTH and DD FreeDish are the options in remote rural areas while discussing the issue of the concerns expressed by operators that over 20 per cent of rural and remote areas were not financially and technically viable.

    The only free-to-air DTH platform in the country, FreeDish – which conducted its 33rd auction this week – earned Rs 2.8665 billion through auction of 54 slots in six auctions from 30 March 2016 to 14 February 2017. In comparison, DD had earned Rs 1.8034 billion in 2015-16. The last e-auction – the 32nd e-Auction – on 14 February 2017 fetched Rs. 655 million.

    Despite the reserve price of Rs 48 million, the highest bid for a slot was Rs 73 million for Sony Pal. The reserve price in the first five auctions was Rs 43 million and was raised to Rs 48 million in the 32nd auction. The reserve price for the 33rd auction was Rs 80 million.

    A new era begun with the adoption of MPEG4 helping FreeDish take the first major step to mark towards its target of 104 television channels by March end with its 32nd e-auction which helped it cross the capacity of eighty channels. FreeDish touched the figure of 104 with its 32nd Auction.

    In line with the ‘Digital India’ and ‘Make in India’, DD has decided to implement Indian CAS (iCAS) on DD Free Dish Platform. iCAS (which is an initiative of the central government) is being introduced in 24 MPEG-4 channels. The introduction of iCAS will provide enhanced viewing experience.

    DD officials said these additional 24 MPEG-4 SDTV channels will be available to viewers in FTA mode. The existing viewers will continue to get 80 SDTV channels, but will have to obtain iCAS-enabled authorised set-top boxes for accessing all 104 channels.

    Although FreeDish will remain free to air with no monthly or periodic fee, the viewers will be required to register with DD FreeDish on getting the new STB from Doordarshan authorised STB dealers.

    DD earned Rs 980 million in 2014-15, Rs 1800 million in 2015-16, and Rs 1040 million till September in 2016-17.

    FreeDish was launched with a modest bouquet of 33 channels in December 2004, and now carries eighty TV channels and 32 radio channels. This includes 22 Doordarshan channels and two parliamentary channels, seven general entertainment channels, 18 movie channels, 13 news channels, seven music channels, three religious channels and eight channels of other genres. All All India Radio stations also piggy-back on the platform.

    Also read

    MIB favours switching to DTH if consumers have problems with MSOs or LCOs

    FreeDish aims to reach 150 channels, earned Rs 3 bn in a year

  • Airtel launches hybrid DTH STB, to have 500+ channels, Netflix & YouTube preloaded

    MUMBAI: Airtel Digital TV, the DTH arm of Bharti Airtel, launched ‘Internet TV’ – India’s first hybrid STB, powered by Android TV, which brings the best of online content to the TV screen along with a bouquet of over 500 plus satellite TV channels. This marks yet another industry first from Airtel that has been at the forefront of innovation in the DTH category. 

    As reported by www.indiantelevision.com recently, Airtel ‘Internet TV’ transforms any TV into a Smart TV and enables users to switch seamlessly between online and linear TV content with a single device. With consumption of online content within Indian Homes increasing rapidly, Airtel ‘Internet TV’ will offer customers a superior experience by enabling them to enjoy their favourite content on the biggest screen in their Homes. 

    Customers can now stream and cast their favourite content directly on to their TV as well download their favourite apps and play games. All of this along with the best satellite TV experience with 500 plus satellite TV channels offers the complete Home entertainment experience.      

    Bharti Airtel CEO & director – DTH Sunil Taldar said, “Growing broadband penetration is driving the popularity of online content, particularly in urban homes, and with Airtel ‘Internet TV’ we are bringing world-class content from the web and much more to the TV screen. This latest innovation has been designed keeping in mind the needs of Indian homes and it bridges the gap between online and offline worlds to enable an end to end entertainment experience with the convenience of a single device. We will continue to add exciting content platforms to Airtel ‘Internet TV’ and invite customers to experience this innovative offering.”       

    Airtel ‘Internet TV’ comes preloaded with Netflix, YouTube, Google Play Music, Google Play Games, Airtel Movies and more. It also comes with access to Google Play Store that allows users to download their favourite apps, content and games on to their TV. 

    “India is one of the most important and vibrant countries in the world and we are delighted to be teaming up with Airtel to make it much easier for consumers to enjoy Netflix,” said Netflix co-founder and CEO Reed Hastings. “In the months and years to come, we look forward to bringing our Indian members more compelling stories from all over the world, an ever-improving viewing experience and incredible joy.”

    Airtel ‘Internet TV’ comes with inbuilt-Wi-Fi receiver, Bluetooth based remote control and is integrated with Google voice search feature. Customers can discover their favourite content by simply telling the remote and choose from a variety of content sources.

    Offering a clutter-free and intuitive interface, the sleek Airtel ‘Internet TV’ STB is 4K content ready and enables LIVE TV shows to be paused, recorded or even rewind. It also supports content via USB (external HD) and Bluetooth. Customers can also cast, mirror content from mobile devices, tablets and laptops on to the TV screen with Airtel ‘Internet TV’.  

    Gaming enthusiasts can make the most of the Internet TV with the best of gaming apps for an experience that is truly larger than life. Gamers can use physical game controllers, or even their smartphones as a game pad with Internet TV.

    Airtel ‘Internet TV’ STB requires a broadband or a 4G hotspot connection with a minimum recommended speed of 4 Mbps for a smooth online experience. A regular Airtel Digital TV dish antenna will also be a part of the installation. Existing Airtel Digital TV customers can also upgrade their existing STBs to ‘Internet TV’ STB.

    Airtel ‘Internet TV’ is priced at Rs. 4999/- with 3 month Digital TV subscription. Also, as limited period offer customers can pay Rs. 7999/- and get the Airtel Internet TV with one year subscription.  Airtel ‘Internet TV’ will be available exclusively on Amazon India starting April 12, 2017. It will be available via Airtel Digital TV touch points – retail stores/website/contact centers soon after online launch.

    Airtel has also rolled out bundled offers for its home broadband customers. ‘Internet TV’ Customers just need to register for myHOME on MyAirtel app and can avail upto 25GB additional data on their Airtel broadband account every month. 

    Also Read:

    Jio DTH & Airtel ‘hybrid’ reports gain currency

  • Could India blocking ABS’ FTA TV signals lead to breach of ITU norms?

    MUMBAI: Government of India, it seems, could find itself in a Catch-22 situation over a directive to Department of Space (DoS) to block free-to-air channels available in India broadcast through Asia Broadcast Satellite (ABS)-2, a foreign `bird’ not licensed to provide KU-band or DTH services in India. Reason: such a blockade may breach international laws relating to spillover of satellite signals.

    Signals of ABS-2 satellite —hosting on its South Asian beam a Nepalese and a Bangladeshi DTH service licensed in their respective countries — have been spilling over into India and a mix of Indian, Nepalese and Bangladeshi TV channels are available to Indians as a FTA service that can be accessed via some plain vanilla hardware (read set-top boxes and an antennae) at a nominal cost. This has raised the heckles of India authorities over possible national security.

    While last week junior minister for Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (MIB) Rajyavardhan Rathore informed Parliament that his ministry has requested DoS to block the “unauthorized” DTH or KU-band ABS-2 service, the foreign satellite operator feels it has not broken any Indian regulations.

    ABS source claimed that the issue is of “natural spillover” of satellite signals into neighboring countries that are outside the service area of the countries offering licensed DTH services, but falling within the coverage area of the satellite. Such issues have been debated by the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) where it was concluded that such a spillover or overlap of coverage areas (countries) is in “full compliance” with ITU provisions. “Consequently, ABS is not in violation of any existing provisions/guidelines stipulated by the government of India,” a company source explained.

    ITU is the United Nations specialized agency for information and communication technologies or ICTs. It allocates global radio spectrum and satellite orbits, develops technical standards that ensure networks and technologies to seamlessly interconnect and strives to improve access to ICTs to underserved communities worldwide. Originally founded in 1865 as the International Telegraph Union, ITU is one of the oldest existing international organizations. India is also a member of the organization and Indian satellites’ slots too are co-ordinated by ITU.

    Categorically denying that the company has “been providing” a DTH service in India, ABS sources said ABS-2 satellite has two customers on its South Asian beam. The customers are Bangladeshi DTH service provider marketing under brand name Realvu and Nepalese Humro TV platform. Both these services are licensed in their respective countries, the sources claimed, adding there was a “natural spillover” of these services into India that is being lapped up by Indian viewers as it has a mix of regional content in an un-encrypted format.

    ABS also clarified that it does not sell any hardware in India, nor does it advertise or provide any service to the Indian TV channels within the country. The ABS series of satellites are owned by the Bermuda-based Asia Broadcast Satellite, a comparatively young global satellite operator with offices in the United States, UAE, South Africa, Philippines, Indonesia and Hong Kong.

    Of course, this ABS-2 service is available to Indian consumers at no monthly charge and all they need to do is install a standard STB, easily available in the open electronics hardware market, which also means that the TV channels on the platform stand to gain from additional eyeballs that can be used for marketing purposes by the TV channels.

    According to an estimate, presently there are approximately 20 satellites broadcasting over the Indian skies beaming channels into India and viewers wanting to watch those channels can watch via an ordinary STB and pointing the antenna to the desired satellite’s geo-stationary location. Though this synchronization of antennae with a specific satellite’s position may be technical in nature, there would be hordes of service providers in India with adequate knowledge to do so for a small price.

    Free to view platforms have an advantage over paid DTH services like Dish TV or Tata Sky or Videocon d2h or Reliance BIG TV in the rural areas of the country where consumers may not be too quality conscious. This FTA phenomenon is evident from the considerable reach of pubcaster Doordarshan’s KU-band or FTA DTH service, FreeDish, and a clamour amongst private TV channels too to be on the platform that has a limited shelf capacity.

    Rathore, while responding to queries from three Members of Parliament last week, had said the move to block ABS-2 signals was being done keeping in view any threat to national security via a service not licensed in India. He said MIB was the licensing authority for DTH services in India and it had not received any application or reference from ABS regarding ABS-2 services. However, the minister also admitted that there was no violation of downlinking guidelines by licensed Indian channels on the ABS-2 platform.

    ALSO READ:

    Block illegal DTH FTA, space dept. told

     

  • Active DTH subscriber growth subdued in Oct-Dec’16 quarter

    BENGALURU: Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) numbers for the quarter ended 31 December 2016 (current quarter, Q3-17) reveal that active DTH subscriber growth in India was lowest since the quarter ended June 2015 (Q2-16) at just 1.2 percent or just 7.5 lakh (0.75 million). In the previous quarter the platform had added 14 lakh (1.4 million) active DTH subscribers and 25.5 lakh active DTH subscribers in Q1-17.

    TRAI reports revealed that the active subscriber base in the country grew to 626.5 lakh (62.65 million) in Q3-17 from 619 lakh (61.9 million) in the immediate trailing quarter (Q2-17). Further, the industry has witnessed a higher growth of registered subscribers at 3 percent as compared to active subscribers in Q2-17 which was at 2.9 percent. In Q2-17 TRAI had reported 941.6 lakh or 94.16 million registered subscribers, which grew to 970.05 crore or 97.005 million in the current quarter.It may be noted that TRAI has been reporting the net active subscriber base including temporarily suspended subscribers that have been inactive for not more than 120 days since Q3-16 (quarter ended 31 December 2015).

    Of the six private players in the Indian DTH ecosystem, three are publically listed and their numbers are available in the public domain – They are in alphabetical order: Airtel Digital TV Services or Airtel DTH which is a small segment/division of Indian telecom major Bharti Airtel Limited; Dish TV, the largest DTH player in the country in terms of number of subscribers; and Videocon d2h.
    public://F1_3.jpg
    Airtel DTH, Dish TV and Videocon d2h have about two thirds (65 percent) of market share of the DTH universe by private players in India. Of the other three players, according to a TRAI report TataSky has a market share of 23 percent, while Sun Direct and Reliance have a market share or 10 percent and 2 percent respectively. It may be noted that at present probably the largest DTH player in India could be the government’s FreeDish, but since it is a free service, no subscriber data is available even with PrasarBharati. Please refer to the chart below:
    public://F2_2.jpg
    For Q3-17, the subscriber growth of the three major players – Airtel DTH, Dish TV and Videocon d2h was more than the industry growth– their combined subscriber base grew 1.6 percent quarter-over-quarter (q-o-q) by 6.33 lakh (0.633 million) to 406.58 lakh (40.658 million) from 400.25 lakh (40.025 million) in the immediate trailing quarter. This means that the major contribution to growth of overall active subscribers – 84.4 percent was by these three players.

    Among the three, Videocon d2h had the highest growth at 2 percent – its subscriber base grew 2.5 lakh (0.25 million) from 125.2 lakh (12.52 million) in Q2-17 to 127.7 lakh (12.77 million) in Q3-17. Airtel DTH subscriber base grew by 1.83 lakh (0.183 million) or 1.5 percent quarter-on-quarter (q-o-q) in Q3-17 to 125.88 lakh (12.588 million) from 124.05 lakh (12.405 million) in Q2-17. Dish TV, the largest private DTH player subscriber base grew by 2 lakh (0.2 million) or 1.3 percent q-o-q to 153 lakh (15.3 million) from 151 lakh (15.1 million).

    Let us see how these three players performed in Q3-17

    Airtel DTH

    Airtel’s Digital TV Services segment (DTH segment) reported 17.7 percent year-on-year (y-o-y) increase in operating revenues for the quarter ended 31 December 2016 (Q3-17, current quarter). Also, Operating Profit (Earnings Before interest and Tax – EBIT) of the DTH segment in the current quarter increased 27.1 percent year-over-year (y-o-y).
    Airtel DTH reported revenues of Rs 873.5 crore in Q3-17 and Rs 742.2 crore in Q3-16. EBIT for the corresponding periods was Rs 68.4 crore (7.8 percent margin of the segment’s operating revenue) and Rs 53.8 crore (7.2 percent margin of the segment’s operating revenue) respectively.
    EBIDTA in Q3-17 also increased y-o-y – by 22.3 percent to Rs 302.6 crore (34.6 percent margin of the segment’s operating revenue) in the current quarter from Rs 247.4 crore (33.3 percent margin of the segment’s operating revenue).
    Airtel’s DTH segment added 14.82 lakh subscribers between Q3-16 and Q3-17, or a 17.3 percent y-o-y increase. It had 125.88 lakh subscribers as on 31 December 2016. Q-o-q, the segment witnessed a 1.5 percent growth (1.83 lakh adds) in subscribers from 124.05 lakh in Q2-17.
    ARPU in Q3-17 increased to Rs 232 from Rs 229 in the corresponding year ago quarter, but remained flat q-o-q as compared to the immediate trailing quarter.

    Dish TV

    Subscription revenue in the current quarter increased 3.3 percent y-o-y to Rs 692.10 crore from Rs 669.90 crore. TIO declined 3 percent to Rs 747.98 crore from Rs 771.48 crore.

    Profit after tax (PAT) declined to almost a third (declined 61.0 Percent) y-o-y to Rs 26.68 crore (3.6 percent margin – of TIO) in Q3-17 from Rs 68.49 crore (8.9 percent margin) in Q3-16. EBIDTA in the current quarter declined 6 percent y-o-y to Rs 249.51 crore (33.4 percent margin) from Rs 265.45 crore (34.4 percent margin).

    Videocon d2h

    Videocon d2h computed subscription and activation revenue in the current quarter wasRs711.2 crore as compared to Rs 710.7 crore in the immediate trailing quarter.

    Continuing the trend is has set in the previous two quarters, Videocon d2h reported a profit after tax (PAT) for Q3-17. The DTH major reported PAT of Rs 21.77 crore (2.8 percent margin) for the current quarter. It had reported PAT of Rs 6.32 crore (0.8 percent margin) for Q2-17, and Rs 2.66 crore (0.3 percent margin) for Q1-16. For the corresponding year ago quarter (Q3-17), the company had reported a loss of Rs 22.05 crore.Adjusted EBIDTA grew 33.2 percent y-o-y to Rs267 crore (35.4 percent margin) in Q3-17.

    The DTH major also reported 13.3 percent y-o-y growth in net subscriber numbers at 127.7 lakh for Q3-17 as compared to 112.70 lakh and a 2 percent quarter-over-quarter (q-o-q) growth from125.2 lakh. Monthly Average revenue per user (ARPU) in the current quarter came in lower at Rs 205as compared to Rs 209 in the immediate trailing quarter.

    Demonetisation impacts DTH industry

    The Media and Entertainment industry has been hit by the recent demonetisation initiatives, and more so the carriage industry. The largest DTH player in terms on subscribers – Dish TV said in its earnings release Q3-17 that it’s could collect subscription revenue from just 30 percent of its subscribers post the demonetisation date of 8 November 2016. Demonetisation was also mentioned by Videocon d2h in its earnings papers. However, the players stepped forward to do their bit for the government’s demonetisation initiatives.

    Dish TV CMDJawaharGoel said,“Subscribers as well as trade partners were extended temporary credit facilities basis their pasttransactions pattern. Subscriber awareness drives to promote alternate methods of paymentwere run both on the ground and on screen in addition to various other initiatives. Looking at the brighter side of it, demonetisation does promise an eventual less-cash dependentpopulation that should use online payment interfaces over cash for DTH recharges. That’s goingto be a boon for the DTH business.”

    Goel is optimistic about the future. He said, “Though demonetisation has led to an initial distress, it also will result in certain structuralchanges that are going to benefit the economy in the long run. As far as our business isconcerned, the effect has already started coming in. As online payment transactions, creditcards and a less-cash society become buzz words today, we are happy to note an increase in ouronline transacting subscriber base from 30 percent to around 38 percent with around 22 digital wallets and thelike being integrated with the company. Every online recharge transaction vis-à-vis EPRS basedtransaction implies savings on recharge commissions paid by us.”

     

  • Jio DTH & Airtel ‘hybrid’ reports gain currency

    MUMBAI: Although there is no confirmation, Reliance Jio seems to be gearing up to enter the DTH space in India this month after disrupting the telecom landscape.

    Jio it seems may not be alone in the new business as Airtel too is reportedly looking to take on Jio’s IPTV based DTH with its hybrid DTH STB service. The impact however will depend on the STB features.

    After much speculation over a few weeks, this time some images of Jio set-top-box have surfaced — exposing the box design. Some reports stated that Jio STB, powered through Jio broadband with up to 1 Gbps speed, would have a rounded design and an upgraded version of the available DTH boxes.

    The leaked pictures the Jio STBs show a USB port at rear and front side. This presumably will help consumers to connect a pen drive and may be watch stored movies and videos directly — without an internet connection.

    This feature exists in smart TVs, but the earlier TV sets do not have it — the market for Jio DTH.

    The leaked images also show an RJ45 port that helps connect to Net and have movies, live streaming and listen to music online. The Jio box also seems to have an AV port, HDMI port, a 12-volt power port, and a cable port at the rear.

    The Jio STB is expected to be based on Android and Jio will help outdoor customer premise equipment (CPE) connected to a Jio tower and attached to the STB. Jio is also preparing to give wiring via optical fibre cable, instead of CPE, in some areas.

    Airtel’s high-tech hybrid too reportedly works on the same principle. Airtel will use the fibre to home (FTTH) service to connect the STBs, allowing viewers to stream content online.

  • Block illegal DTH FTA, space dept told

    NEW DELHI: The Department of Space has been asked to block the signals of Asia Broadcast Satellite Free-to-air channels which is beaming in India without the permission of the Ministry.

    Minister of State Rajyavardhan Rathore said this had been done keeping in view the national security angle. He said the I and B Ministry is the licensing authority for DTH broadcasting services in India and it has received no application or reference from ABS for DTH operations.

    Meanwhille, he told Parliament today that there was no violation of Downlinking guidelines by permitted Broadcasters on account of providing signals to unauthorised DTH operators. In order to deter the permitted Broadcasters (channels) from violating the downlinking guidelines, he said the Ministry had issued a Web Notice on 23 December 2015: 

    http://mib.nic.in/WriteReadData/documents/Notice_to_all_Broadcaster_Private_TV_(Channels)_registered_with_MIB_.pdf

    After the Ministry had learnt from Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) that ABS had started providing permitted free to air (FTA) channels, the Home Ministry was consulted from the security angle and its implication from national security perspective.

    The Home Ministry said the transmission of DTH service by ABS is without any application to the I and B Ministry and not in line with the guidelines of that Ministry.

    Clause 5.6 of the Article 5 of Downlinking guidelines issued by Ministry of I&B stipulates that all the Broadcasters (Channels) shall provide Satellite TV channel signal reception decoders only to MSOs/Cable Operators registered under the Cable Television Networks (Regulation) Act, 1995 or to a DTH operator registered under the DTH guidelines issued by the Government of India or to an Internet Protocol Television Service Provider duly permitted under their existing Telecom License or authorized by Department of Telecommunications or to a HITS operator duly permitted under the policy guidelines for HITS operators issued by the Ministry 

  • NTV MIR expansion in Europe via Globecast’s Eutelsat HOTBIRD

    PARIS: Globecast, the global solutions provider for media, has been selected by NTV Broadcasting Company to broadcast NTV MIR TV, the international version of NTV, to cable and DTH homes across Europe. Globecast is providing fibre connectivity via its Globecast Backbone Network for the channel to be delivered from Moscow to its Paris location, where the signals are then uplinked to Eutelsat’s HOTBIRD position at 13° East (transponder 126).

    NTV MIR TV joins an unrivalled neighbourhood of 38 Russian-speaking channels at the popular HOTBIRD position, of which 28 are available free-to-air. Broadcasting in MPEG-2 SD, the channel offers a mix of news and documentaries, as well as entertainment content and sports.

    The agreement with NTV positions Globecast as the preferred choice for Russian broadcasters to extend their international footprint. Globecast already broadcasts Channel One and RTR PLANETA (Group VGTRK) and broadcasts NTV MIR across Asia via AsiaSat 5.

    Biliana Pumpalovic, General Director of Globecast in Moscow, commented, “We’re delighted that NTV Group has once again called on us to distribute its content, this time across Europe. Eutelsat’s HOTBIRD neighbourhood, with its strong Russian line-up, was the obvious choice for us and makes it easy for NTV MIR to increase its cable and DTH audience across a vast footprint. This deal also illustrates what Globecast does best, which is deliver content to a new audience cost-effectively.”

    Eutelsat’s cluster of three high-power HOTBIRD satellites at 13° East deliver an unrivalled line-up of more than 1,000 channels. Over 135 million homes in Europe, the Middle East and North Africa watch channels broadcast by the HOTBIRD constellation through Direct-to-Home reception, cable, IP and DTT networks. Part of the Orange Group, Globecast provides agile and seamless content acquisition, management and distribution services globally.