Category: Technology

MUMBAI: A clutch of cable operators in Mumbai have approached the Bombay High Court seeking extension of the deadline for digitisation in the four metros of Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkata and Chennai.

The court has issued notices to the Information and Broadcasting Ministry and the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) to reply by 5 June.

Among the petitioners are Kulbhushan Puri and Paresh Thakkar, both associated with Hathway Cable & Datacom. Puri. The operators are from the eastern suburbs of Mumbai like Chembur, Ghatkopar and Govandi.

Interestingly, Puri holds 5.32 per cent stake in Hathway Bhawani Cabletel & Datacom, according to shareholding data on BSE till November 2011.

“Puri and Thakar have filed in their individual capacities. They want to set up their digital head-ends. The Hathway Bhawani JV will run on its own,” said a source familiar with the development.

The court will hear the matter only after 11 June when it resumes after the holiday break. The government has set 30 June as the digitisation deadline for the four metros.

The operators are seeking time as they want to set up their own head-ends. “The broadcasters will file their RIOs (reference interconnect offer). The operators need at least 60 days to work out their deals with the broadcasters. They will also have to obtain licence for running their own operations,” the source added.

The petitioners want time so that new entrants would be given a fair opportunity to set up their independent ventures.

NEW DELHI: The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India has said that every multi-system operator (MSO) or his linked local cable operator will establish a complaint centre in his service area before providing the digital addressable cable TV services and will have to resolve complaints within eight hours.

Every complaint centre will be accessible to the consumers from 8 am in the morning to midnight on all days of the week. Every MSO or his linked local cable operator (LCO) will deploy sufficient number of employees at his complaint centre to meet the Quality of Service (QoS) parameters, as may be specified by the Authority from time to time.

The complaint centre will have facilities for the local language of the area in addition to Hindi and English.

This has been stated in Consumers Complaint Redressal (Digital Addressable Cable TV Systems) Regulations and Standards of Quality of Service (Digital Addressable Cable TV Systems) Regulations issued on the last day of the tenure of Trai chairman J S Sarma.
 
The MSO or linked LCO will have to ensure the complaints centre is accessible and has a toll-free number. Trai has also detailed how an Interactive Voice Response System (IVRS) should function, and how consumers should be made aware of the existence of the centre.

In cases where the QoS has not specified details of the time by when a redressal has to be addressed, the complaints will be addressed within a time period not exceeding three days.

Every MSO or linked LCO will appoint or designate one or more nodal officers in every State in which it is providing its service and give wide publicity to this.

A consumer can approach the nodal officer only if not satisfied with the redressal of his complaint by the complaint centre.

Trai may forward the complaint to the concerned MSO for the purpose of redressal of complaints alleging violation of the Act or regulations made or directions issued or orders made by it under the Act; complaints of the consumers which are generic in nature; complaints alleging that the practices adopted by the MSO adversely affects the interest of the consumers; and a complaint that Trai feels is required to be resolved expeditiously by the MSO.

Every MSO/linked LCO will maintain records of all complaints filed by the consumer with them and such records shall include docket number, name and address of complainant, date and time of filing complaint, type of complaint and redressal date and time and the written confirmation from the consumer that the complaint has been redressed.

The MSO will directly or through the linked LCO issue within 60 days of the coming into force of these Regulations publish a ‘Consumer’s Charter for addressable cable TV systems’ containing information about itself, the QoS parameters, the services offered and other terms and conditions about the services offered.

The QoS Regulations say every MSO or linked LCO offering digital addressable cable TV services, will devise formats of application for seeking connection, disconnection, reconnection and for obtaining and returning of set-top box as specified in the regulations.
 
Adoption of a common format as specified in Schedule I of the regulations by an MSO/LCO will be construed as compliance of the requirement.
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Any person seeking connection or disconnection or reconnection or shifting of cable service connection or intending to obtain or return set top box at a place located within the area of operation of MSO/LCO may submit an application in the format referred to in sub-regulation (1), in duplicate, duly signed and complete in all respect, to the MSO/LCO who will return the duplicate copy of the application to the applicant as an acknowledgment of receipt of application after giving a unique identification number.

Cable services will be provided by the MSO/LCO to every person making request for the same, subject to technical and operational feasibility.

In case it is technically or operationally non-feasible to provide connection, reconnection, shifting of service or supply of set top box at the location where the services are requested by the applicant, the MSO/LCO will inform the applicant within two days of receipt of the application, indicating the reasons.

No MSO/LCO will disconnect the cable services to the subscriber without giving prior notice of at least 15 days to such subscriber indicating the reasons for such disconnection. The period of 15 days shall be reckoned from the date of receipt of the notice of disconnection by the subscriber. If the services to a subscriber have been discontinued on his request, no charge other than the charges for STB, if any, will be payable by such subscriber. But if they have been discontinued by the MSO/LCO, no charges for the period for which the services were discontinued including the charges of STB shall be payable by the subscriber.

Every MSO/LCO will publish a Manual of Practice which will have full details of services being offered.

An MSO/LCO will not change the composition of subscription package subscribed by the consumer during the period of six months from the date of enrolment of the subscriber to such subscription package, if the subscriber is not in default of payment of monthly subscription charges; and during the entire period of validity of the subscription package if the subscription amount in respect of such subscription package has been paid in advance by the subscriber or, if the amount is payable in installment, the subscriber has paid the installments on due date; if such channel continues to be available on the cable network of the MSO. If any channel, which is a part of a package subscribed by a subscriber, becomes unavailable on the network of the MSO, the fee will be reduced accordingly unless an alternate channel is offered and accepted..

Every MSO will offer cable TV services on both pre-paid and post-paid payment options to the subscriber and will be responsible for generation of bills for the subscribers. It will be open to the subscriber to choose either the pre-paid or post-paid option.

Every MSO/LCO will give to every subscriber the bill for charges due and payable by such subscriber for each month or for such other period as agreed between the parties, for which such charges become payable by the subscriber. In case of post-paid bills, the subscriber will be billed, generally on monthly basis and the bill shall contain the Service Tax Registration Number and the Entertainment Tax Registration number of the MSO. The entries in the bills will be itemised to indicate the price of individual channels or bouquet of channels along with the names of channels in the bouquet, charges for basic service tier and the channels comprised therein, charges for STB, taxes along with the rates of taxes levied and the charges for value added services availed by the subscriber, if any.
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Every MSO/LCO will provide to the subscriber the STBconforming to the Indian Standard, if any, set by the Bureau of Indian Standards. An STB not conforming to Indian Standard provided to the customer by a MSO or its linked local cable operator before the commencement of these regulations will be replaced without an extra charge within seven days of commencement of these regulations.

A minimum warranty of one year will be provided on the STB which has been acquired by a subscriber on outright purchase basis from such MSO/LCO. Such subscribers will not be required to pay any charge towards repair and maintenance of the STB during the period of warranty including visiting charges of the person deputed by the MSO or linked local cable operator for maintenance.

Every subscriber shall be free to buy a STB of approved quality from the open market, if available, which is technically compatible with the system of the MSO. The MSO/LCO will not force any subscriber to buy or take on rent or on hire purchase the STB from him alone.

Any security deposit deposited by the subscriber for acquiring the STB will be refunded to him within seven days of return.

Every broadcaster will maintain technical standards of the signals as laid down by Digital Video Broadcasting for DVB-S or DVB-S2 standards.

The Authority may from time to time, intervene for the purpose of protecting the interest of the subscribers or monitoring the performance of quality of service standards of the MSO or its linked local cable operator or for ensuring compliance of the provisions of the regulations.

NEW DELHI: The newly appointed Rahul Khullar, who took charge as Trai chairman today, said he faced an “onerous responsibility” in his new assignment as the government prepares to come out with a new telecom policy after a gap of 13 years.

Khullar, former commerce secretary who replaced J S Sarma who retired, expressed the hope that he “would be able to make a good job of it,” even as he refused to comment on his priorities.
 
He said he will fix his priorities after consulting with his colleagues. Khullar, who was due to retire in April next year after 38 years in civil service, will be in his new position till May 2015.

The appointment of Khullar, 59, comes at a time when India is moving towards cable television digitisation and some section of the stakeholders are wanting the deadline to extend beyond 30 June for the first phase in the four metros of Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata and Chennai.
 
Khullar will also to facing the ire of telecom operators for the steep hike proposed by it in recommendations on spectrum auction for radio waves. The auction is to be undertaken before 31 August this year. The recommendation came in the wake of the 2 February Supreme Court order canceling 122 telecom licences issued in 2008.

Khullar had worked closely with then Finance Minister Manmohan Singh during 1991-1993 as his private secretary.

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Rahul Khullar set to take over as Trai chairman

MUMBAI: Commerce secretary Rahul Khullar is replacing J S Sarma as the new Trai chairman for a three-year term.

The Prime Minister‘s office seems to have cleared the appointment of Khullar, a 1975 batch IAS officer of Delhi cadre.The tenure of Khullar, who was due to retire in April next year, will be till May 2015.

Sarma retires after having passed recommendations on spectrum allocation that won the opposition of the telecom operators with the base price being increased 13-fold.

Sarma also issued the tariff and interconnect order for digital addressable cable. Television news broadcasters have particularly opposed the legitimisation of carriage fees while a section of the multi-system operators (MSOs) have found certain clauses in the order not favourable for them. Local cable operators are also demanding more revenue share from the MSOs.
 
Khullar, an economist, will have to carefully balance these burning issues. The telecom operators have been lobbying for a change in regime as Sarma has been firm on the formula Trai has recommended for the auction of 2G airwaves.

The television industry will anxiously wait to see if the new chairman will defer the digitisation deadline of 30 June for the four metros of Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata and Chennai.

Khullar had worked closely with then Finance Minister Manmohan Singh during 1991-1993 as his private secretary.

As commerce secretary, Khullar worked for trade normalisation between India and Pakistan. He had been successful in implementing measures that helped exports cross the $300-billion mark in 2011-12. He has also negotiated India‘s stance at WTO and various other multilateral pacts.

It is understood that former DIPP Secretary R P Singh, Defence Production Secretary Shekhar Agarwal, Fertiliser Secretary Ajay Bhattacharya, former Department of Telecom member (Technology) Chandra Prakash, Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation Commissioner Subodh Kumar, former Secretary (Defence Finance) Indu Liberhan and Vijayalakshmi K Gupta were also in race for the post.

MUMBAI: Global beverage brand Pepsi has partnered with Microsoft Xbox to create a Pepsi Max branded football game based on its recent ‘crowd surfing‘ football ad and is the first of its kind for the gaming and entertainment service.

The game is based on the TV ad which features footballers like Didier Drogba and Lionel Messi , thus forming a part of Pepsi Max‘s Max It! campaign.

The brand hopes that this new Xbox LIVE mini-game will enable Pepsi Max to leverage its high-impact TV advertising collateral in the interactive gaming environment.
 
The game on Xbox Live comprises three levels where users select an avatar and take on Pepsi Max’s footballers in a series of challenges, which recreates scenes from the TV ad. The players receive digital prizes, such as Pepsi-branded avatar T-shirts and themes to personalise their home screens, when they complete each level.

For promoting the games, the brands will make use of video banners on the Xbox Live dashboard so that those who click through will be taken to a Pepsi branded destination, where they can see the TV ad and play the game.
 
In addition to this, the beverage brand has created an application on Facebook that enables users to star alongside the Pepsi footballers.

Earlier this month, Pepsi unveiled its first global marketing campaign, with strategy to align itself closely with the entertainment industry, under the strapline ‘live for now’.

MUMBAI: Lionsgate is looking to grow its presence in the digital media space through a YouTube fitness channel, Lionsgate BeFit, which it claims has accumulated more than 1.5 million views in the past month alone, and is already expanding its content offerings.

The new channel is part of YouTube‘s recent entertainment programming venture that delivers niche-oriented original content produced by some of the world‘s most respected content creators to the online video entertainment community. The channel also extends Lionsgate‘s strategy of allying itself with world-class, brand name partners in all of its businesses.

Lionsgate credited the channel‘s early success with its combination of original programming and a home entertainment fitness library.
 
Lionsgate executive VP, Home Entertainment Marketing Anne Parducci said, “BeFit has accumulated 1.5 million views over the past month and is growing in viewership by a double digit percentage every week, and we believe that our ability to combine compelling original content and a broad and deep catalog of fitness brands positions us for long term success,” said Parducci. “We‘re delighted to partner with YouTube and pleased to be one of the first studios to utilize their platform for a dedicated, branded channel.”

An ad-supported one-stop shop for free, high-quality fitness programming, Lionsgate BeFit features original new shows focusing on the latest trends in fitness and featuring top trainers and brands.

Lionsgate BeFit also includes programming from Lionsgate‘s extensive catalog of fitness content including the No. 1 selling brand Jillian Michaels, Jane Fonda, Denise Austin, Deepak Chopra & Tara Stiles as well as dance workouts based on the top rated television series “Dancing with the Stars” and the wildly popular film Dirty Dancing.

The channel features numerous workout styles including yoga, boot camp, Pilates, cardio, strength and complete workout systems.

The first original show to launch on Lionsgate BeFit, which can be accessed at www.youtube.com/BeFit, was BeFit in 90. A new revolutionary program, BeFit in 90 is a hard-core 90-day workout system designed to deliver results fast and includes a new playlist for each day. 
 
Currently in its first season, two additional seasons will follow later this year. The program is hosted by two certified fitness trainers: Samantha Clayton, an Olympic track star from the UK who is also the wife of baseball all-star Royce Clayton and mother of four (including triplets); and Garret Amerine, a war hero who rebounded from injury in Iraq to become a leader in the campaign to get and stay fit.

Fitness senior VP of marketing, GM Kajsa Vikman said, “When YouTube told us it was making a bold step into original programming with a wide array of the most talented and innovative content creators in the world, we didn‘t hesitate to come on board. We knew that our relationships with the biggest and most talented names and brands in fitness along with our extensive DVD library could help us deliver the premiere fitness destination for millions of people all over the world. BeFit in 90 is just the beginning of the high quality programming we plan to deliver.”

Three months after its January 2012 launch, Lionsgate BeFit is already preparing to expand its slate of original content to include ‘BeFit Club Hip Hop‘, a hip hop dance fitness series, featuring the latest moves from the club and hip hop scene in fun to follow routines.

‘BeFit Club Hip Hop‘ is led by three choreographers: Bryan Tanaka, a lead dancer and performer with some of the music stars such as Beyonce, Rihanna and Lady Gaga as well as Dejan Tubic and Janelle Ginestra, two social media personalities with a combined total of 50 million views on YouTube who are renowned for their choreography and fierce moves.

Another show set to premiere targets baby boomers and older, ‘Jane Fonda Prime Time Health‘, featuring the actress and fitness icon sharing her advice – addressing such topics as workout routines, stretching, strengthening and toning as well as healthy eating habits, crucial vitamin intake and subjects to keep one more focused and happy. Additional original new programming is in development and will continue to launch throughout the year.

MUMBAI: Orange has announced that its new social TV app, TVcheck, is now available to download from the UK Apple App Store for iPhones.

The free app is available on any network and provides a new and exciting way to enhance the live TV experience with social and gaming tools.

The app works with 25 free-to-air channels in the UK, including the BBC, ITV, Channel 4 and Channel 5.
 
One of TVcheck’s features is its live TV image recognition technology. During any programme on a compatible channel, the user can point his/her phone at the television screen. The app then recognises the television programme and registers that you have ‘checked in’ to the programme.

Once the user has checked in to a TV show, you can make use of the app’s other simple features. The user can participate in live quizzes, earn badges or challenge other viewers to become ‘top dog’ of a specific programme or channel.
 
Additionally, the app provides a seamless connection to social media websites such as Facebook and Twitter allowing you to chat and send messages about your favourite programmes while watching TV. Customers will soon also have access to other treats such as unseen footage from their favourite shows.

The app, available on other apps stores in the future including Android Market Place, follows its successful release in France last year. Orange has already partnered in France with leading TV channels and programmes, including Channel NT1 (You Can Dance); Channel NRJ12 (Les Anges de la Téléréalité/Angels of Reality TV) and Direct Star (Direct Star sur Sc?ne/Stars are on Stage) to deliver exclusive interactive experiences, based on the TV content, to TVcheck users.

New Delhi: The Government today reiterated its decision that it will not award UAS licences linked with spectrum and all future licences will be Unified Licences and allocation of spectrum will be delinked from the licence.

Minister of State for Communications and Information Technology Milind Deora informed Rajya Sabha that the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai), in its 11 May 2010 recommendations on Spectrum Management and Licensing Framework, had said that future licences should be unified licences and that spectrum should be delinked from the licence.

The Minister said the decision to delink spectrum allocation from licences had been taken after a Government – constituted committee under the Chairmanship of Member (Technology) Telecom commission to examine the above Trai recommendations had submitted its recommendations and they were considered by Telecom Commission.

NEW DELHI: The demand for mobile handsets in the country was 180 million in 2011 as against 150 million the previous year, signifying a growth of 20 per cent.

In value terms, this stands at Rs 382 billion in 2011 as compared to Rs 345 billion in 2010, a growth of 11 per cent, Minister of State for Communications and Information Technology Milind Deora told Rajya Sabha today.

Indian Cellular Association (ICA) estimates say the demand will reach 200 million in volume term at a rate of growth of 11 per cent in the year 2012, while in value terms it will stand at Rs 430 billion, a growth of 13 per cent.

The demand of mobile handsets in 2009 had been 130 million at a value of Rs 301 billion.

The projected growth is 225 million, or Rs 482 billion in value, in 2013. This is expected to climb to 250 million in 2014, or Rs 540 billion in value.

MUMBAI: Yebhi.com, a home, lifestyle and fashion e-retailer, has bought out the fashion jewellery e-retail company Stylishyou.in.

Yebhi.com has acquired the merchandising team also as a part of this deal.

According to the company all the products available on Stylishyou.in will now be available on Yebhi.com.

Stylishyou.in was founded by Shraddha Danani in 2011. Danani will be joining Yebhi.com as head of jewelry.

Bigshoebazaar is the parent company of Yebhi.com. Bigshoebazaar India CEO Manmohan Agarwal said, “Jewellery e-retailing as a category is very nascent category right now and we would like streamline our efforts in making it the next big thing! Yebhi.com with its largest logistics and delivery network can provide Stylishyou within Yebhi the deepest reach. We at Yebhi, make constant efforts to improvise on the basis of people’s feedback and now is the demand is highest for jewellery and thus we will ensure that along with lifestyle, Yebhi will also be India’s largest online jewellery store.”

Danani added, “Yebhi.com has been synonymous with offering a wide array of products to its discerning customers and delivering the best of the products at the shortest time ever. I am excited to have joined the team and I look forward to an interesting journey with the basic intent of leading the jewellery category in the country and participation across existing and new products.”

In July 2011, Bigshoebazar raised Rs 400 million in a series-B funding round from Nexus Venture Partners and Catamaran Ventures, which is an investment company backed by Infosys chairman NR Narayana Murthy. Prior to that, Bigshoebazar had raised Rs 100 million from Nexus Venture Partners.