ITV

Tag: Cable Operators Federation

  • Broadcasters ready to extend existing analogue agreements in view of tardy pace of agreements, DAS Task Force told

    Broadcasters ready to extend existing analogue agreements in view of tardy pace of agreements, DAS Task Force told

    New Delhi: With less than three months to go for the deadline of Phase III of Digital Addressable System, the Indian Broadcasting Foundation has said that broadcasters are ready to extend the existing analogue interconnect agreements with multisystem operators for transition from analogue to digital service in view of the slow progress in signing of interconnect agreements.

     

     The commitment was made in the last meeting of the Task Force set up by the Information and Broadcasting Ministry in its meeting on 22 September. The minutes of the meeting were placed on the Ministry website today.

     

    The meeting was presided over by special secretary J S Mathur who asked the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) to convene a meeting of broadcasters and MSOs resolve issues. (It may be recalled that TRAI had earlier asked both broadcasters and MSOs to approach it in case of any problems with regard to interconnect agreements.

     

    Referring to the low number of interconnect agreements, Mathur remarked that without signing of agreements between broadcasters and MSOs, the progress on digitisation was not possible.

     

    Agreeing there had been slow progress in signing of agreements with major MSOs as the latter were awaiting the decision in a case before the Telecom Disputes Settlement and Arbitration Tribunal, the IBF said broadcasters had signed provisional agreements with many applicant operators, who have digitised their networks under the condition that they would get registered as MSOs for DAS operation before the cut-off date for Phase III.

     

    IBF was asked to submit an area-wise list indicating the status of signing of agreements to the Ministry. The meeting was told that just 62 of the 300-odd multi system operators had signed agreements with broadcasters.

     

    Mathur expressed his gratitude to the Indian Broadcasting Foundation for developing the advertisement on cable TV digitization in Phase lll areas and airing it on their member channels. He said All India Radio and Doordarshan were already giving advertisements on cable digitisation on their channels and they need to scale it up. The IBF representative said the Ads had been planned in bilingual format but IBF will consider making it multilingual as requested.

     

    Joint Secretary (Broadcasting) R Jaya said as a next step towards publicity awareness campaign, broadcasters and MSOs should now inform the cable TV users in Phase III areas through scroll messages on their channels to get STBs installed in their homes before the cut-off date.

     

    Jaya mentioned that MSOs registration by the Ministry was open. In case broadcasters have entered into agreements with non-registered operators they should ensure that they have applied for MSO registration with MIB. She advised broadcasters to impress upon these operators to immediately register themselves as MSOs with the Ministry failing which they cannot operate digital services.

     

    Meanwhile announcing that the toll free help line is expected to start operating soon, Jaya told the meeting that seven regional workshops had been held so far with Nodal officers in different cities, and these officers had been advised to provide the right of way (RoW) to the MSOs/LCOs under the provisions of the Cable Television Networks (Regulation) Act 1995 and also give details of those Phase III areas in their districts where no registered MSO is operating.

     

    The nodal officials were told to disseminate a clear message that the cut off dates are final and the analogue cable viewers should change to digital before the cutoff date.

     

    She said twelve regional units including the central unit in Delhi have been established for monitoring the implementation of DAS Phase III areas under Mission Digitisation project.

     

    Referring to the fact that seven regional workshops had been held so far, she said Nodal officers were being advised to provide the right of way (Row) to the MSOs/LCOs under the provisions of the Cable Television Networks (Regulation) Act 1995 and, also intimate Phase III areas in their districts where no registered MSO is operating. The nodal officials were also told to disseminate a clear message that the cut off dates are final and the analogue cable viewers should change to digital before the cutoff date.

     

    The workshops have been held at Chandigarh, Lucknow, Ahmedabad, Jaipur, Bhopal, Shillong and Hyderabad. A workshop at Patna had to be cancelled due to elections in the state. The workshops had been successful in sensitizing the state nodal officers about their role and responsibilities In the pre and post digitization period in phase lll areas.

     

    The Siticable representative said broadcasters have not responded to their requests for interconnect agreements for phase III areas so far and so they are unable to fix the channel package rates and get the SAF and CAF forms filled up from subscribers as required under DAS regulations. He questioned the propriety of running of digital cable service by cable operators without first getting registered from MIB as per the DAS regulations,

     

    The representative of the Telecom Authority of India said it was up to broadcasters and MSOs to continue existing interconnect agreement even after transition from analogue to digital. He added that there was no impropriety in running the digital service by an operator before the cutoff date without registration from the Ministry.

     

    The representative of IMCL said it had signed 60% of interconnect agreements with broadcasters in Phase III areas. Regarding interconnect agreements with other broadcasters they requested TRAI to intervene.

     

    The representative of MOCF mentioned that MSOs were not signing interconnect agreements with LCOs and TRAI should intervene and prescribe a standard interconnect agreement.

     

    A representative of the cable operator association from Assam said since no agreements were being signed in Assam despite requests from MSOs, broadcasters should nominate a nodal officer to deal with the issue at regional level.

     

    ASSOCHAM said it had along with a Cable Operators Federation already started a Chetna Yatra which was planned mandatorily to cover 450 cities sensitizing the consumers and operators alike about the cable digitisation in Phase III areas by 31 December. He added that a comprehensive report on this will be submitted to the Ministry.

     

    Members made various suggestions about the awareness campaign. A representative of the local cable operators association from Assam said that to make this effective, the TV Ads should be in regional languages. He wanted to know whether the Chetna Yatra planned to cover north east also.

     

    A representative of ARTBI said it did not have the facility to dub the ad in different regional languages but said its member channels would run it if this was provided to them.

  • TRAI decides to restrict entry to Open House on Media Ownership

    TRAI decides to restrict entry to Open House on Media Ownership

    NEW DELHI: Alarmed by the disruption of the Open House on Media Ownership in Hyderabad by local cable operators and multi-system operators, the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) today issued a notice restricting entry into the Open House to be held in Delhi on the same issue later this week.

    In a mail sent to some prospective participants, Trai asked them to come with indentity cards and to register themselves in advance.

    The Cable Operators Federation of India President Roop Sharma said this would mean cutting out a large section of consumers since the mail has been sent to a select few, and also bar those who have not received the mail. The initial notice on the Trai website says ‘Interested Stakeholders/industry representatives are invited to participate.’

    She said that this also amounted to a violation of the transparency clause enshrined in Section 11(4) of the Trai Act.

    During the Open House in Hyderabad yesterday, a large number of LCOs and MSOs wanted the Trai officials to attend to their queries and the meeting had to be called off mid-way.

  • CAS REVIEW: MSOs claim adequate STB stocks, admit consumer order slowdown

    CAS REVIEW: MSOs claim adequate STB stocks, admit consumer order slowdown

     NEW DELHI: Multi-System Operators have told the sector regulator that there is no shortage of STBs anywhere in the country, but admit that there has been a slow-down of consumer orders, for which the MSOs themselves and broadcasters need to make various changes in their strategies.

    “None of the players, neither the cable operators, nor the broadcasters, not even us, have been reading the consumers’ minds, and we better take care of that from now,” a senior official of one MSO told indiantelevision.com today.

    Meanwhile, although these are “early days”, the trend that has emerged as a result of data analysis of customer choices as expressed in the forms submitted (for those who have opted for Cas in Delhi and Mumbai) “is bound to create major upsets in the market, especially in how the media buyers look at where to put their monies,” the official said.

    This was in the offing since the early days of Cas implementation, and the announcement could cause a mild to heavy temblor in the market.

    Meanwhile, cable operators here reported also that in some pockets people were not taking STBs because of regional preferences. In the predominantly Bengali neighbourhood of Chittaranjan Park, a fairly posh colony, many have stayed with the Bengali FTAs and decide to hang on to whatever rest they are getting in the FTA basic tier package (Rs 77, plus taxes).

    Likewise, in the Nepali dominated Vasant Gaon area and for people in RK Puram, where there is a predominance of South Indians from various states, it has been noted that since their most popular regional channels are FTAs, they have stayed away from STBs, Roop Sharma, president of Cable Operators Federation of India told this correspondent.

    None of the three MSOs approached in Delhi by this correspondent so far have divulged the clear analysis, saying that the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) has asked for these and they can reveal the data only after reporting to it.

    But it is known by now that most of those who have taken the STBs have opted for a la carte and not packages or bouquets. “This clearly shows that the Indian customer knows its mind far better than we had anticipated,” sources admitted.

    CUSTOMERS IGNORED: In the soul searching process, media experts are now saying that the slowdown has been because of various reasons, primarily ignoring the customer.

    First, the DTH players promised to supply boxes and dishes but could not do so on time. In the first instance, they gave dishes but not the STBs. Then, they gave prepaid boxes, so when the month was over, the streaming was disconnected. Then, people started comparing that this never used to happen with the “cablewallahs”, who would wait till you paid and not disconnect.

    In fact, the “facelessness” of the DTH players, who operate through the BPOs, have been one reason for people in chunks getting put off by them, though it is a fact that DTH players have scored heavily in the bordering areas of Delhi proper by giving attractive prices to housing colonies.

    At the same time, MSOs admit that they too had failed to gear up to the search in the first 14 or 20 days of Cas implementation. “The packages that we gave did not meet the needs of the consumer,” said one MSO spokesperson.

    “We also did not make a clear statement on what package a cable home having two or more TV sets would get as discount, and no clear policy emerged in the beginning, and the packages were arbitrarily decided by us,” he added.

    Analysis and feedback from ground level fitters from cable operators show that due to this, most families set a budget for themselves as per their pockets, and decided to take channels they wanted, which is why they chose a la carte.

    This has caused major changes in the viewership patterns, and a lot of “myths” of TRP supremacy claimed by channels could come for a shake up, media experts aver.

    FENCESITTERS APLENTY: Data analysis shows that a lot of people are sitting on the fence, so far as fresh demand for STBs is concerned.

    As reported by indiantelevision.com earlier, MSOs say that there could be some kind of pace picking up with the World Cup cricket coming up, but they hold that much more than a global sporting event has to be looked into for the “second phase of Cas rollout” to be successful.

    MSOs have told broadcasters to tie-up with them to push for boxes. They have made several proposals so far on this with the major broadcasters.

    Though a recent seminar in Mumbai generally held that availability of STBs would be crucial for success of Cas and would rake in the moolah for all the players, reports emanating suggest that there is no shortage of boxes.

    All three MSOs, WWIL, Hathway as well as Incablenet have ample number of boxes, “which we have informed Trai about”.

    “We have told Trai that there is an urgent need for MSOs and broadcasters to tie up and create packages that are of substance to the consumers, which will be in their own best interest,” the official said.

    As of now, however, there is no such consensus emerging on a market that is there for the taking.