ITV

Tag: cable TV

  • Final phase STB seeding is 35% even as deadline nears

    NEW DELHI: Even as the country has set a deadline of 31 March this year for full digitisation of cable TV, a Parliamentary Committee has been told that only 35 per cent seeding of set-top boxes (P-IV) has been achieved in rural India though the Parliament was told last week that 66.79 per cent (P III & IV) seeding had been achieved in the last two phases minus Tamil Nadu.

    Admitting that digitisation in the first phase is total minus Chennai, the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Information Technology which also examines issues relating to the information and broadcasting ministry has been told that digitisation has also not been done in one city – Coimbatore – of Phase II in view of court cases though the other 37 cities having more than one million population and spanning 14 states and one union territory had been covered.

    The committee recommended that the I and B Ministry follow up the issue of financial and technical viability in rural and remote areas, promote and increase share of iCAS (Indian Conditional Access System) to leverage ‘Make in India’ programme, popularise Doordarshan Free Dish in small town/cities/rural and remote areas, address the legitimate concerns of domestic STB producers and rigorously pursue interoperability of STB with the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India.

    The committee therefore expressed the hope that the I and B Ministry will be able to meet the targets of cable TV digitisation as almost all the pending cases have now been dismissed and there is no stay in any case except in case of Chennai and Coimbatore.

    Cable TV Digitisation in Phase III and Phase IV areas was to be achieved by 31 December 2015 and 31 December 2016 respectively, now extended to 31 January 2017 and 31 March 2017.

    Interoperability: TRAI working with IIT Bombay

    It was told that technical interoperability, as envisaged in the existing Direct to Home Guidelines has so far not proved to be effective due to various techno-commercial issues. The TRAI has decided to collaborate on the issue of technical interoperability with the Department of Electrical Engineering of Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay (IIT-B).

    To ensure commercial interoperability TRAI has notified tariff orders and this has been challenged by a couple of DTH operators in the Telecom Disputes Settlement and Arbitration Tribunal and the matter is sub judice.

    The Committee was given to understand that after the roll out of iCAS in January 2016, about 10 million STBs have been installed by multi-system operators out of which about 300,000 are with iCAS, which gives a market share of about 3%.

  • TRAI chief pushes for b’band over cable TV, BharatNet for upping penetration

    NEW DELHI: Pointing out that initiatives such as broadband over cable and government’s OFC project BharatNet are important to increase broadband penetration, TRAI chairman RS Sharma has called for aggressively boosting India’s data connectivity profile as the country lags way behind many Asian countries on this score.

    According to Sharma, India’s data connectivity ranking was below Sri Lanka, Vietnam and Singapore, and way below the 46 per cent of average data connectivity level worldwide.

    “Indian telcos have delivered ubiquitous voice connectivity at affordable rates, but data connectivity remains a pain-point with the country ranked at 138 among the 175-odd countries, which is even below many African countries and island nations,” the Economic Times quoted Sharma from his keynote address at the ET Telecom India Mobile Congress last Friday.

    Highlighting the proactive nature of the regulator in giving fillip to broadband penetration, Sharma said the sector regulator has already recommended deployment of cable TV infrastructure for beefing up broadband, especially since 100 million homes already have cable connections. More recently, it has advocated freeing up new spectrum bands to ring in affordable Wi-Fi services in public places, the ET report stated, adding the chief regulator revealed the Department of Electronics & IT (DeitY) and the telecom department (DoT) were jointly initiating “a pilot program to offer affordable Wi-Fi, affordable Wi-Fi connectivity with free localized content“.

    Asserting that the national broadband project BharatNet would see significant acceleration in the coming months, the ET report quoted Sharma as saying the project could play a key role in boosting India’s overall data connectivity profile if implemented through the public-private partnership model as suggested by TRAI.

    Responding to a query on high spectrum costs in India, Sharma said the regulator had advocated a “pay-as-you-go model” for spectrum payouts to ease fiscal pains for telcos.

    Going forward, the sector regulator, according to the report, may also suggest that mobile virtual network operators (MVNOs) be allowed to partner with multiple telcos, which would give consumers more choice for voice and data services and also allowing telcos more options to monetize unused airwaves.

  • DAS deadline extension ruled out, govt claims 66% seeding done

    NEW DELHI: The Government reiterated today that there was no question of extension of the final phase of digital addressable systems for cable television in the country.

    Minister of state for information and broadcasting Rajyavardhan Rathore told the Parliament that Phase I, II & III of the Cable TV Digitisation have been completed successfully except in Tamil Nadu state, which is pending due to court cases.

    The fihal phase covering the Rest of India had originally been fixed for 31 December 2014 and later modified to 31 December 2016. It had now been further modified to 31 March 2017 on disposal of court cases.

    At the outset, he said Cable TV digitisation in the country is being implemented in four phases according to a Ministry notification of 11 November 2011 which had laid down the phase wise timelines which were subsequently amended.

    Phase I covering the Metro cities of Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata and Chennai was originally slated for 30 June 2012 and modified to 31 October 2012. The second phase covering 38 cities (with population more than one million) was slated for 31 March 2013.

    The third Phase was to cover all other urban areas (Municipal Corporations/ Municipalities) and was originally slated for 30 September 2014 and modified to 31 December 2015.

    He said this cut-off date could not be achieved due to stay/extension granted by some Courts. On the disposal of the court cases in December 2016 and in order to provide time for transition of those subscribers who had not switched to digital mode of transmission, the Ministry allowed time upto 31 January 2017.

    For Phases I and II 100% requirement of set top boxes has been met except in Tamil Nadu. For Phase III & IV, the Ministry had developed a MIS online software for collection of seeding status of STBs. Since the area of Phase III & IV overlap, the combined state wise seeding progress for these two phases is 66.79 per cent minus Tamil Nadu.

  • Movies channel Star Gold Select HD goes live today on Tata Sky & Cable TV

    MUMBAI: One of India’s largest broadcaster of entertainment, movies and sports, Star India Network, has announced the launch of its fourth Hindi movies channel – Star Gold Select HD. An exclusively HD channel Star Gold Select will serve carefully curated, meaningful stories from Indian cinema on television to a discerning audience. The channel will go live on 6 March, and will be available on Tata Sky and digital cable platforms.

    Star general manager – Hindi movies cluster Hemal Jhaveri adds “From a Hindi movie content-consumption point of view, it’s safe to say that India is at its best stage so far. Movie lovers across the country are looking for differentiated content in films, television and digital. With the launch of this channel, we will cater to this need with our handpicked movies that have a compelling storyline”.

    Currently, movies on television are intermittently consumed and often times, breaks and repeats lead to a less-than-ideal viewing experience. Star Gold Select HD is committed to bringing the multiplex-experience of watching movies to the comfort of our homes. To stay true to this commitment, apart from its lineup of distinguished content, every movie will have just one break. The channel promises to premiere one movie every week at the 9 pm prime slot.

    “Each of our movie channels offers a unique proposition to our consumer. With Indian cinema taking a leap with regards to content, we believe that there is a growing need for movies with great storytelling to have their own destination on television. This is the genesis of Star Gold Select HD. The channel packaging is clean and minimalistic making it easy to navigate through content. , with just one interval in every single movie, every day, delivering an enjoyable in-home movie experience,” adds Jhaveri.

    Star India is all set to launch Star Gold Select HD with its integrated marketing campaign on television, leveraging the STAR network strength, on digital, and radio. Along with this, a multi-city cinema plan has been designed to drive awareness with passionate movie lovers. Star Gold Select HD is a step forward in the direction of bringing great stories to its viewers in an engaged, enjoyable manner.

  • Cable TV price may reduce as TRAI issues tariff, QofS, interconnect regulations after SC nod

    MUMBAI: Cable TV prices are now expected to reduce after Telecom Regulatory Authority of India yesterday issued a series of orders relating to digital addressable systems.

    Broadcast carriage regulator TRAI had lined up a slew of guidelines relating to tariff, quality of service and interconnections, including proposing maximum retail price (MRP) for channels being bundled in genre-wise bouquets, freeing unbundled premium channels of  price caps and reining in the last mile cable operator (LCO) from breaching revenue-gravy trail.

    Sources in TRAI had indicated the regulator had favoured introducing MRP for TV channels that broadcasters offer in a bouquet to MSOs so the prices could be conveyed to a consumer in a transparent manner for him to make an empowered choice. Though broadcasting companies do submit annually a-la-carte rates of their respective channels to TRAI, the regulator was of the opinion that a consumer doesn’t ultimately get to choose the channel of his choice transparently.

    Following the green signal from the Supreme Court yesterday morning, TRAI issued a series of orders relating to digital addressable systems.

    Apart from the Tariff order which had been issued on 10 October last year, the regulator also issued the DAS Interconnect Regulations which had been issued on 14 October last year, and the Standards of Quality of Service and Consumer Protection (Digital Addressable Systems) Regulations which had been issued on 10 October last year.

    In separate press releases, TRAI said the three documents issued in October last year were in draft form. Earlier, the regulator had issued consultation papers on the issues and finalized the regulations after receiving responses from stakeholders and open house discussions, the final regulations have been issued. The regulations had been issued after However, a cursory glance shows that the regulator has stuck to its draft with some incidental changes.

    The orders can be seen at:

    http://trai.gov.in/sites/default/files/Tariff_Order_English_3%20March_2017.pdf

    http://www.trai.gov.in/sites/default/files/QOS_Regulation_03_03_2017.pdf

    http://www.trai.gov.in/sites/default/files/Interconnection_Regulation_03_mar_2917.pdf

    Earlier, both Star India and Vijay TV had filed a petition in Madras High Court under the Copyright Act on the ground that TRAI could not issue orders that would affect content but could only issue regulations relating to distribution and other matters.

    After the High Court stayed all orders issued by it, TRAI appealed to the Supreme Court which this morning said that TRAI was free to issue its orders. However, it said the case in the High Court would continue and would have to be completed within sixty days.

    Both channels were also given leave to amend their petitions in the event of TRAI issuing any orders.

    Also read:

    TRAI tariff & quality of services regulations

    TRAI issues comprehensive interconnect draft guidelines

    Offer Premium channels as a la carte, don’t bundle: TRAI

  • How Sultan and Naagin are being pirated in Russia

    MUMBAI: Here’s some food for thought for Indian TV channel broadcasting executives zapping their channels via satellite, cable TV or VOD services into Russia and syndicating content to Vladmir Putin’s land. And this includes movies such as Sultan, and super popular shows such as Naagin.

    A survey by content and data security specialist IRDETO in partnership with YouGov amongst 1,055 Russian adults online, revealed that 87 per cent of Russian consumers believed that producing or sharing pirated video content is not against the law while 66 per cent think that streaming or downloading pirated content is legal.

    Russia, like India and many other nations, has strict regulations against unauthorized copying, broadcasting, distribution or reproduction of copyrighted material – including audiovisual content.

    More than half of those (57 per cent) who participated in the survey said that they actively watch pirated content while 22 per cent said that they watch stolen shows and films at least once a week or more.

    38 per cent of respondents said that they pirate current movies being shown in theatres, 21 per cent said theat they were interested in pirating a TV series. Pirated live sports, OTT content from Netflix and Hulu was preferred by just six per cent of those who answered the survey.

    Almost 75 per cent use their laptops or desktop computers to watch the pirated content whereas tablets and smart phones accounted for just five percent each respectively.

  • MSOs among Top 5 fastest net providers, telco Airtel leads the pack

    MUMBAI: Cable TV companies have begun featuring in the country’s top five companies that lead in providing the fastest internet speed and downloads.

    Although lead by the top telecom company Bharti Airtel, the cable TV companies in the fast-net list are — 7 Star Digital and Hathway, according to the Netflix ISP Speed Index.

    For the third time since September 2016, the average download speed on Bharti Airtel’s mobile network was measured to be the highest in January at 8.42 megabit per second (mbps), according to the latest data published by TRAI, the telecom regulator. Netflix Index also rated Airtel as the fastest ISP with 2.25 Mbps Speed.

    Also, a Credit Suisse report published this month stated that Airtel 4G offered the best download speeds in general at around 12Mbps based on its study conducted across 30 cities, and that Vodafone, Jio and Idea were close to 7-8Mbps.

    The average mobile data speed per month published by TRAI showed that the download speed on Airtel almost doubled in January from 4.68 mbps in the preceding months, PTI reported. The monthly average speed on India’s largest broadband service-provider Jio however reduced by over half to 8.34 mbps from 18.14 mbps peak speed that it registered in December 2016.

    TRAI collects information and calculates on a real-time basis the speed of mobile data from subscribers across India with the help of MySpeed application.

    The Netflix ISP Speed Index meantime also rated Airtel as the fastest Internet Service Provider with 2.25 Mbps Speed. The Index announced Airtel to be the fastest internet service provider followed by Spectranet, 7 Star Digital and ATRIA Convergence. While Airtel gives broadband services via cable, DSL, wireless and fiber, Spectranet provides its broadband services through fiber.

    7 Star offers cable TV, digital Media, broadband and entertainment services. It holds an ISP license to offer broadband in Mumbai and is also the first HD content provider across India. ATRIA speed fell below 2.18 Mbps, and Hathway climbed a spot higher to pocket the fifth position with 1.93 Mbps speed, followed by YOU with 1.84 Mbps speed.

    Meantime, in an attempt to check mobile service quality, TRAI has begun operator-assisted tests that capture real-time data to monitor the level of call drops and voice quality across multiple cities. The tests involves the telcos’ equipment and costs, with TRAI supervising the process.

    The tests have already taken place in Mathura (UP-West circle), Ujjain (Madhya Pradesh), Jaisalmer, (Rajasthan), and Mangalore (Karnataka), among other. Tests are under way or slated to be conducted over the coming weeks in locations include Kalyan, Noida, Jammu, Guwahati-Dispur, Mysore, Hyderabad, Rajkot, Bhopal, and Jhansi, as per the schedule drawn up by the regulator.

  • Premium VAS: Shemaroo, Hathway tie up

    MUMBAI: Shemaroo Entertainment Ltd, one of the leading content owners, is joining hands with Hathway, one of the largest cable networks to change the dynamics of TV viewing in India.

    For the first time now, the audience can enjoy premium paid ad-free services on cable TV. A platter of popular services namely Miniplex, Comedywalas, Om Shakti, Ibaadat, Lamhe Movies and Yippee are now available on cable TV as well.

    As part of the launch, the said services are offered free to the consumers for the first month, ushering them with an experience of next generation TV viewing. Post this period, these services will be available at different price points.

    Shemaroo director Hiren Gada said, “This is a big leap, not only for Shemaroo but for the industry as well. Shemaroo Entertainment has always been among the pioneers when it comes to changing technology and consumer needs and adapting the same to reach and better serve our audience.”

    He also added, “Having successfully launched a number of VAS (Value added service) services across genres on multiple DTH platforms, Shemaroo Entertainment now expands its reach to cable viewers. Our tie up with Hathway will usher a new era in Cable TV viewing.”

    Hathway CEO T. Panesar said, “Shemaroo happens to be the leader in media content with a hold of the largest content library in India. Hathway’s all new Value Added Services – Hathway Special promises to offer the maximum and the best to its subscribers. We are happy to partner with Shemaroo and are confident that with this partnership, we will fulfil our promise by providing quality and the best services to all our subscribers.”

  • Ortel 9M FY17: Cable TV rev grew by 35pc, broadband by 18pc, income by 12pc

    MUMBAI: Ortel Communications Limited (Ortel), one of the leading cable television and high speed broadband service providers focused in the Indian states of Odisha, Chhattisgarh, Andhra Pradesh, Telengana, West Bengal and Madhya Pradesh, announced its financial results for the quarter and nine-months ended 31 December, 2016.

    Ortel has built a two-way communication network for ‘Triple Play’ services (video, data and voice capabilities) with control and focus over the ‘Last Mile’ network. Ortel has pioneered the primary point cable business model in India by offering digital and analog cable television, broadband and VAS services. It covers an addressable market of close to five million homes.

    9M FY2017 performance overview compared with 9M FY2016

    •    Total Income increased to Rs. 1,590million, from Rs. 1,416 million, up by 12.3%
    •    EBITDA stood at Rs. 428 million compared to Rs. 519 million
    o    EBITDA margin came in at 26.9%
    •    Profit After Tax came in at Rs. 6 million compared to Rs. 92 million
    •    EPS amounted to Rs. 0.21per share Q3 FY2017 performance overview compared with Q3 FY2016
    •    Total Income increased to Rs. 518 millionfrom Rs. 502 million, up by 3.2%
    •    EBITDA stood at Rs. 118 millioncompared to Rs. 187 million
    o    EBITDA margin came in at 22.8%
    •    Net Loss stood at Rs. 28 million compared to Net Profit of Rs. 39 million
    •    EPS amounted to Rs. -0.92per share

    Commenting on the performance, Ortel Communications president & CEO Bibhu Prasad Rath said, “Our performance during the quarter was impacted due to a combination of factors which weakened some of our key operating parameters. In spite of this, we have demonstrated a healthy growth in revenues from both Cable TV and Broadband Business on a Y-o-Y basis both for Q3 and 9M FY17. I am also happy to inform that our Business outside Odisha which turned EBIDTA positive last quarter has remained so during this quarter,” he said.

    “Overall, we have demonstrated that a strong B2C focused last mile business model in our core market can be profitable and remain confident of replicating the same across newer markets. We continue to believe that this is a sustainable model as we can capture the entire revenue stream across the value chain,” Rath added.

    Ortel’s business is broadly divided into cable television services comprising of analog cable television services, digital cable television services including other value added services such as HD services, near video on demand (NVoD), gaming and local content. Other focused business segments include broadband services, leasing of fibre infrastructure and signal uplinking services.

  • Economical digital headend solution: VideoPropulsion to start shipments for cable TV

    Economical digital headend solution: VideoPropulsion to start shipments for cable TV

    MUMBAI: Wisconsin-based VideoPropulsion® Interactive Television, Inc. OTCVPTV and New Delhi-based MultiVirt India Pvt Ltd are now demonstrating a new, low-cost headend system for Local Cable television Operators (LCOs) in India.

    MultiVirt India as a company was established in 1995 to cater to the growing markets of broadcast, cable and multimedia in India. MultiVirt’s core competency has been consultancy, systems integration and turnkey project execution for broadcast, Cable and OTT, mobile and web-media. VideoPropulsion has been a world leader in hardware and software for high performance, low cost per stream, digital content manipulation, and has established a reputation for providing unique HDTV, VoD, and IPTV products.

    The two companies announced their collaboration early in 2015, and are now ready to deliver an inexpensive, innovative digital headend solution tailored specifically for the Indian digital CATV market.

    The partners’ premier offering is a MultiVirt integrated headend appliance capable of selectively receiving up to 200 channels of Free to Air (FTA) programming via DVB-S2 satellite, and then re-modulating the programs over QAM on a COAX network to DVB-C Set Top Boxes (STB). The single 4U chassis employs VideoPropulsion’s preeminent, high-density DVB-C QAM modulator (ITU-T J.83 Annex A) PCIe cards.

    The system has been designed for the LCO to optionally merge up to 40 of its own local programs into the COAX cable plant multiplex via an ethernet port on the appliance. The locally supplied content is encoded into MPEG2 or H.264, then transmitted to the VideoPropulsion QAM where it is combined with up to 200 FTA channels for delivery over the cable network to the subscribers’ STBs. This makes for a very affordable 240 Channel headend, ideal for small, remote operators.

    Additional options and upgrades include the ability to do hardware transcodes of any of the programs to or from MPEG2 or H.264, as well as the ability to encrypt any of the programs using a variety of conditional access schemes such as Conax, Novel-SuperTV, Cryptoguard, Irdeto, and others.

    “Our new VPro-S Headend represents an exciting new opportunity for us to provide a large segment of CATV markets in India with a powerful and affordable solution,” said MultiVirt founder & director Rakesh Gupta. “We are gratified to offer this high-density, low-priced product in support of the final phases of the digitation of television services in India.” VideoPropulsion and Multipart will demonstrate the Vpro-S Headend on Booth E12 Hall12A at Convergence India 2017 (8-10 February) in New Delhi.

    “Our ongoing partnership with MultiVirt showcases our ability to solve large-scale digital television problems quickly and cost-effectively,” said VideoPropulsion founder, chairman and chief scientist Carl Pick. “We are delighted to participate in India’s ambitious future.”