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Tag: Arasu cable

  • Tamil Nadu CM drops minister from cabinet due to cable TV tariff spat

    Tamil Nadu CM drops minister from cabinet due to cable TV tariff spat

    MUMBAI: While Tamil Nadu’s state-run cable operator Arasu Cable revised down its subscription rates recently, the move has led to a political crisis in the state. Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami has dropped former IT minister Dr Manikandan from his cabinet.

    After the recent announcement of price revision, Manikandan accused Palaniswami of unilaterally taking the decision of reducing the cable TV monthly subscription as per a report from The Hindu. “I was not consulted. The chief minister announced it. A meeting will happen soon,” Dr Manikandan said. He also alleged that the government declined to fund the government cable network Arasu Cable.

    “When we approached the government to bear the cost of STBs, the then finance secretary and present chief secretary K Shanmugam declined to accept. As a result, we repaid ₹400 crore of the total debt (towards providing free STBs) of Rs 619 crore from our (TACTV) revenue. When we were in distress, neither the government nor anyone came to our rescue. If the government comes forward to provide the balance of Rs 219 crore or gives the amount as loan, we can even fix the Arasu Cable tariff at ₹100 a month,” he said.

    On July 22, Animal Husbandry minister Udumalai Radhakrishnan was appointed as the chairman of the cable network which did not make Manikandan happy either. He also pointed out the conflict of interest by saying that the latter should first shift two lakh subscribers who are currently under his cable TV network Akshaya Cable to Arasu Cable.

    Radhakrishnan recently said that the 11 lakh STBs provided by Arasu Cable which had been switched off, needed to be brought back online as Arasu Cable had now lowered its tariffs.

  • Arasu Cable revises subscription rates

    Arasu Cable revises subscription rates

    MUMBAI: Tamil Nadu’s state-run cable operator Arasu Cable has revised down its subscription rates, with effect from 10 August. Under the new subscription rate, package of 190 channels will be available for Rs 154.

    “Based on requests from the people, the cable television tariff for Tamil Nadu [except Vellore] under Arasu Cable has been fixed at Rs 130, plus GST,” Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami said.

    After the new price regime kicked in at the beginning of this year, Arasu Cable had to revise its packages. It had three packages — a basic package at Rs 120 plus GST with all free-to-air (FTA) channels, a package at Rs 200 plus GST and another that offered 191 channels at Rs 220 plus GST.

    The state-run operator has distributed 35.12 lakh set-top boxes free of cost to its subscribers till date. But recently, it found that out of the 35 lakh STBs that were distributed, only 24 lakh were active. The sudden increase in pricing caused the churn in customers. To prevent the churn, the new move has been taken.

  • 170 TN companies start providing Arasu Net, IPTV plan under way

    MUMBAI: In all 170 Tamil Nadu companies have started providing Arasu internet services in the state. For providing IPTV (Internet Protocol Television) service, a detailed project report was under process.

    Arasu Cable TV had floated expression of interest (EoIs) to become business partners on revenue-sharing basis and about 392 applications were received. At present, 2,577 subscribers use the leased line internet connectivity. Tamil Nadu state government’s proposal to expand internet service connectivity has received a healthy response, PTI reported.

    Directions had been issued to 170 applicants for starting the internet service and about 24,750 households are expected to be provided with the internet service under this initiative.

    The TN government had floated a SPV (special purpose vehicle) ‘Tamil Nadu FiberNet Corporation’ to implement it. Telecom major Vodafone was selected by the Arasu Cable TV Corporation under the open tender process, an IT department policy note said.

    For the sake of cable TV digitisation, a global tender was floated in May for procuring 60 lakh standard and 10 lakh HD (high definition) STBs (set-top boxes). Tenders had been received from various companies and are being scrutinised. The number of cable television connections provided by Arasu rose to 70.52 lakh as of 1 May this year, as compared to 4.94 lakh in 2011.

    Also Read :

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    Arasu gets a month’s extension to go digital

    Arasu gets provisional MSO licence subject to analogue switch-off in three months

    TRAI keeping watch over Arasu, TN MSO extends digital hardware bids deadline

  • TDSAT adjourns Star India-Chennai LCO case following stay by Madras HC

    TDSAT adjourns Star India-Chennai LCO case following stay by Madras HC

    NEW DELHI: The Information and Broadcasting (I&B) Ministry has been spared the onus of explaining denial of digital addressable system (DAS) licence to the Tamil Nadu Arasu Cable TV Corporation Ltd (TACTV) following a Madras High Court order.

     

    The Telecom Disputes Settlement and Arbitration Tribunal (TDSAT) has adjourned sine die the hearing of the LCO Thamizhaga vs Star India case in which the Arasu question had arisen.

     

    The order by TDSAT chairman Justice Aftab Alam and members Kuldip Singh and BB Srivastava came on being informed by the Government counsel that a single judge of the High Court had on 28 August stayed the proceedings pending before the Tribunal.

     

    The Tribunal however gave liberty to the parties to bring to its notice any further development in the matter.

     

    On 14 August, TDSAT had asked the I&B Ministry to file an affidavit in a matter where the root issue was about the denial of DAS licence to TACTV. It also directed the Indian Broadcasting Foundation (IBF) to get impleaded in the case.

     

    At that time, TDSAT also said Star India, a respondent in the case filed by cable operator Thamizhaga Cable TV Communication, New Delhi, was free to negotiate with Arasu and other multi-system operators (MSOs) for areas in Chennai for DAS and outside Chennai for analogue transmission.

     

    At the same time, it said that there would be no disconnection of signals until the next date.

     

    However, the Tribunal had held that Arasu (TACTV) was guilty of transmitting television signals in Chennai – which had adopted DAS in the first phase – in analogue mode, and at the same time guilty of using Star signals in the metropolis without any authorization inter-connect agreement with Star India.

     

    The Tribunal was told by TACTV that it had applied for a DAS licence as far back as July 2012 but the government had failed to take a decision despite an order of the Madras High Court of December 2013 asking the Centre to take a decision on the application of TACTV for grant of its license “in the soonest possible time.”

     

    Noting that there is no compliance with the direction of the Court even after more than a year and half, the Tribunal had felt it was imperative to know the stand of the Government for a proper adjudication of the matter. 

     

    The Tribunal had not accepted the argument by TACTV in the last hearing that it had negotiated with Star India for the entire state since the Letter of Intent (LoI) was only for the rest of Tamil Nadu barring Chennai.

  • Arasu Cable to now foray into broadband service with Railtel

    Arasu Cable to now foray into broadband service with Railtel

    MUMBAI: Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa owned Arasu Cable may be struggling with getting the licence to operate in the digital addressable system (DAS) areas, but it is now gearing up to launch its broadband service in collaboration with Railtel Corporation of India.

     

    With this, the Chennai based multi system operator (MSO) will give its customers affordable broadband services, through cable TV connection.

     

    It was in August, when during the Assembly session, Jayalalithaa declared that Arasu Cable, which currently provides cable TV connections at Rs 70 per month to its close to 70 lakh customers, will foray into broadband.

     

    The service, according to Tamil Nadu Information department secretary T K Ramachandran will start in a couple of months.

     

    The interested cable operators are currently being trained about the new service. The government plans to complete the training in every district by the end of the month.

     

    The pilot project was conducted in Vellore with around 1,000 subscribers being given access to the service. The tariffs have not yet been fixed, but the schemes are in place. 

  • Arasu Cable to run subscriber awareness campaigns

    Arasu Cable to run subscriber awareness campaigns

    MUMBAI: The state owned multi system operator (MSO) from Tamil Nadu (TN), Arasu Cable, is looking at running awareness campaign for its subscribers. The campaign will urge them to demand printed receipts from their local cable operators (LCOs).

     

    The MSO is doing this in order to ensure that no one is charged more than the monthly fee of Rs 70. The campaign will begin with a poster campaign from Kancheepuram and will be displayed at government buildings, ration shops, government hospitals and schools, regional transport offices and civic body offices.

     

    Subscribers can lodge complaints over the phone on 044 28221233 if the LCO doesn’t provide a receipt or demands for more money. There are more than 65 lakh Arasu cable subscribers in TN. Printing books have already been handed to LCOs for the same.

     

    Arasu has been awaiting its DAS licence from the ministry for quite some time now. The MSO owned by the Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa’s AIADMK has been writing several letters to the central government to allow its licence go to go through so that it could switch over from analogue to digital.

  • Jayalalitha again seeks DAS licence for state-run Arasu

    Jayalalitha again seeks DAS licence for state-run Arasu

    NEW DELHI: After she failed to convince him through a memorandum presented last month, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa has now written to the Prime Minister Narendra Modi to intervene to secure Digital Addressable System (DAS) licence for the state run TV Cable Corporation.

     

    The application has been pending with the state for three years but has not been cleared in view of the opinion by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) that political party, state and centre-run TV channels or TV distribution networks should not be permitted in the country.

     

    The Regulator had given this opinion in 2008 and then reiterated it earlier this year after the Information and Broadcasting Ministry referred the matter to it for a second time.

     

     In her letter to Modi, Jayalalithaa said the previous United Progressive Alliance regime sanctioned licenses to nine Multi System Operators in Tamil Nadu but did not respond to the state’s plea. She claimed that her government had revived the ‘defunct’ Tamil Nadu Arasu Cable TV Corporation (TACTV), a state run TV Cable Corporation, after coming to power in 2011 to adhere to its commitment to provide inexpensive and quality Cable TV services.

     

    TACTV, an initiative of the previous DMK government at the height of family feud in the party’s first family involving M Karunanidhi and his grandnephews, Maran brothers, was however later put in cold storage after they patched up.

     

    TACTV was providing 100 channels for Rs 70 as against the Rs 150-250 charged by some other MSOs, she said in the letter. After the Cable Television Networks (Regulation) Act, 1995 was amended, paving way for DAS, TACTV took steps to commence operations in the digital mode in Chennai and applied to the Ministry for DAS license.

     

    Orders were also placed for the supply of Set Top Boxes, Conditional Access System and Subscriber Management System and installing of a headend at a cost of about Rs 50 crore, she told Modi.

     

    Jayalalithaa in her letter has asserted that as per the provisions of the Cable TV Network (Regulations) Act, 1995, and Rules thereof, TACTV is qualified for such a licence. She also alleged that she strongly suspects that the non-issuance of license by the previous UPA government was only to facilitate particular private business interests. 

  • Arasu should be given DAS licence, Jayalalithaa tells Modi

    Arasu should be given DAS licence, Jayalalithaa tells Modi

    NEW DELHI: Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa has once again raised the issue of granting a digital addressable system licence to Arasu Cable TV Corporation, which is owned by the state government.

     

    While the demand was raised before Prime Minister Narendra Modi when she called on him yesterday, it is expected that this matter would be referred to Information and Broadcasting Minister Prakash Javadekar for consideration.

     

    However, the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has in two different consultation papers in 2008 and December 2012 given its opinion against state-owned multi-system operators or broadcasters getting licences.

     

    Ministry sources told indiantelevision.com that licences have not been issued to any state-owned organisation for running cable TV networks as TRAI had recommended that neither state-owned, local bodies nor religious organisations should be permitted to own TV channels.

     

    Earlier this year, then I&B Minister Manish Tewari had told Parliament that Arasu Cable TV Corporation had applied on 26 November 2007 for grant of MSO registration in CAS notified area of Chennai and had been granted provisional permission on 2 April 2008, subject to the report of TRAI on the issue of whether to allow state governments/PSUs and other entities to enter into broadcasting activities.

     

    Thus, Arasu had been given permission on the ground that it would automatically lapse if the Ministry decides against allowing state governments/PSUs and other entities into broadcasting activities, including MSO/Cable operations.

     

    In April last year, the Madras High Court had been informed by TRAI that Central and  State government ministries, departments, companies and undertakings should not be allowed to enter into the business of broadcasting or distribution of television channels. 

     

    Justice S. Rajeswaran was hearing writ petitions filed by the Tamil Nadu Arasu Cable TV Corporation seeking Digital Addressable System (DAS) licence to it for Chennai Metro and for the other parts of the State.

  • Madras High Court declines to restrain MSOs, LCOs from transmitting analogue signals

    Madras High Court declines to restrain MSOs, LCOs from transmitting analogue signals

    New Delhi: Even as a petition by Chennai Metro Cable Operators Association (CMCOA) seeking extension of implementation of the digital access system is pending hearing, the Madras High Court has refused to grant interim injunction restraining local cable operators from transmitting the cable TV signals in analogue mode.

    However, Justice Vinod K Sharma said: “It is admitted that the cable operators including Arasu cable are providing only analogue system and therefore violating law for which they can be prosecuted under section 11 and section 16 of the Cable Television Networks (Regulations) 1995.”

    But he said this did not mean he was accepting the petition by T Saikrishnan seeking to restrain LCOs and multi-system operators like Arasu from transmitting or operating analogue head end or importing cable TV signals from Non-DAS area or rolling out cable TV signals without DAS licence to the consumers within Chennai Metropolitan area.

    Justice Sharma said: “It cannot be said that the applicant has prima facie case to seek injunction nor the balance of convenience is in favour of him is not likely to suffer any irreparable loss.”

    In the suit, the plaintiff claimed that he is in cable business for last several years after getting valid licence from the postal department. He is operating in and around Virugambakkam in Chennai. Other local cable operators including Arasu cable in the cable business were transmitting signals in and around the area and other areas of city without obtaining necessary licence.

    Arasu Cable Television got itself impleaded as party and filed the counter. It submitted that the applicant had not come to the court with clean hands and filed the application at the instigation of some vested interest who did not want the government to operate the cable TV business.

    P H Arvindh Pandian, Additional Advocate General, contended that the Union government already issued MSO licence to Arasu cable in April 2008 which was valid up to 2013 and it had also applied for DAS licence with the Information and Broadcasting Ministry and the application was still pending. Arasu Cable was running cable TV network in public interest to provide transmission.

    The Judge viewed that under the Act, the aggrieved person could file an appeal for taking action against persons or authority. “The remedy for violation is provided under the Act under section 11 and 16 whereas civil suit is barred in view of law laid down by the Supreme Court”, added Mr. Justice Sharma.

    Meanwhile, the petition by (CMCOA) through its General Secretary M R Srinivasan for extension of DAS pending before Justice N Paul Vasanthakumar is expected to come up for hearing in the last week of this month.

  • Vedanta-owned Sterlite bags order to provide STBs to Arasu Cable

    Vedanta-owned Sterlite bags order to provide STBs to Arasu Cable

    MUMBAI: Pune-based Sterlite Technologies has got the order for supplying two lakh set-top boxes to Tamil Nadu government-owned Arasu Cable TV Corporation Limited (ACTCL), according to a top executive.

    Sterlite Technologies, a leading global provider of transmission solutions for the power and telecom industries, is part of the Vedanta Group which has interests in aluminium, copper, zinc, lead, silver, iron ore, oil and gas and power.

    ACTCL had floated a global tender for the process of procuring STBs which also saw the participation of Wipro and Shaf Broadcast among others.
    The multi-system operator (MSO), which is yet to receive a DAS licence, needs one million STBs for digitisation.

    "Sterlite Technologies has got the contract for supplying two lakh boxes. We had advertised for one million boxes," ACTCL managing director D Vivekanandan confirmed to Indiantelevision.com.

    Vivekanandan said that the decision whether to order more boxes from Sterlite or some other company would be taken depending upon the speed of supply.

    The state-run Arasu is expecting to receive the DAS licence, for which it had applied on 5 July, soon. "It is only about time that we will get the licence. We hope to get it soon," Vivekanandan affirmed.

    However, the I&B ministry is mulling whether state-owned cable networks should be given licence to operate.

    Vivekanandan, though, has a different take on the matter. "As of now there is no rule to bar Arasu from having a licence," he said.

    Arasu, which has a firm grip on cable distribution across Tamil Nadu, had extended its cable TV services to the metro on 20 October. ACTCL had said that it would offer 200 channels to the viewers in Chennai.

    The cable TV corporation had also placed ads in in the run up to digitisation urging people to register for STBs through an advance payment of Rs 500 per STB.

    "We have received advance payments for 30,000 boxes while LCOs have requested for about nine lakh boxes. The response has been good," Vivekanandan noted.

    Earlier, Arasu Cable had floated a tender for providing digital head-ends, STBs, encryption solutions and subscriber management system (SMS) but cancelled it because it found the costs too high.

    As per data provided by the Information and Broadcasting ministry, the digital cable penetration in Chennai with 0.7 million subscribes stands at 63 per cent.

    The implementation of digitisation has been put on hold due to a stay order from Madras High Court on a petition filed by cable operators. The case is pending in the Court and will next come up for hearing on 28 December.