ITV

Tag: cable TV

  • US House of Representatives pass bill to allow telecom firms into cable TV

    US House of Representatives pass bill to allow telecom firms into cable TV

    MUMBAI: The US House of Representatives have passed a bill that makes it easier for American telecom firms to enter the American cable TV market.Media reports indicate that lobbying by telecom firms AT&T, Verizon and BellSouth could have influenced the Representatives.

    The Communications Opportunity, Promotion and Enhancement Act of 2006 was pased.

    BellSouth VP governmental affairs Herschel Abbott says, “We congratulate and thank Chairman Barton and Representative Rush for shepherding this legislation through the House. We look forward to Senate action so that legislation can be signed by the President this year.

    “Completion of video franchise legislation will allow faster rollout of a video service that can provide another competitive alternative to cable, offering the kind of customer service and quality that customers demand.

    “Given the amount of debate over so called ‘net neutrality’ during consideration of this bill, let me again assure consumers that BellSouth will not block or degrade access to any legal content on the internet. Net neutrality is a phony issue and it ought to be laid to rest by this vote.”

    The bill will allow national video franchising for Internet Protocol television (IPTV) providers in hopes of spurring competition in the US pay television market. The Cope Act removes regulatory barriers for video service providers to enter the market. Additionally, the legislation allows municipalities to deploy broadband and provide video services on a transparent and nondiscriminatory basis, thereby removing barriers for another competitor’s entry intro the marketplace.

  • Trai’s Open House to discuss commercial tariff for broadcasting and cable TV

    Trai’s Open House to discuss commercial tariff for broadcasting and cable TV

    Subject: Open House Discussion and posting of Gist of Comments on issues relating to Commercial Tariff for Broadcasting and Cable Television Services.

    The TRAI will be holding Open House Discussion (OHD) on issues relating to Commercial Tariff for Broadcasting and Cable Television Services. The OHD will be held on 25.5.2006 at the Banquet Hall, 3rd Floor, Ashok Hotel, Chanakyapuri from 11.00 Hrs to 13.30 Hrs.

    2. The consultation paper issued on 21.4.2006 on the issue and gist of comments received from stakeholders on the consultation paper are available on TRAI’s website www.trai.gov.in. The consultation paper can be seen by using the link
    http://www.trai.gov.in/trai/upload/
    ConsultationPapers/71/consult21apr06.pdf.
    The gist of Comments can be seen using the link
    http://www.trai.gov.in/whatnew.asp and
    http://www.trai.gov.in/pressreleases_list_year.asp .

    3. The Issues posed for consultation will also be available at the venue of the Open House Discussion. All interested agencies /individuals are invited to participate. For any clarification, please contact Shri Rakesh Kacker, Advisor (B&CS), Ph 011-26713291, Fax no 011-26713442, E-mail:
    rkacker@trai.gov.in

  • Hinduja TMT to de-merge media, IT/BPO biz

    Hinduja TMT to de-merge media, IT/BPO biz

    MUMBAI: Hinduja TMT Ltd. will de-merge the company’s IT/BPO and media businesses into separate entities. The board of directors of the company are meeting tomorrow to provide in principle approval for this.

    The media business is likely to be brought under a holding company, a source said. HTMT has been weighing several options while deciding on separating its IT from media business. One option is to have the cable TV and broadband business under one entity while keeping the content business separate. Another possiblity could be to have a common entity for the media businesses.

    “I have nothing to comment at this stage. The board is meeting tomorrow,” HTMT MD K Thiagarajan said.

    Last month, speaking to Indiantelevision.com, Thiagarajan had admitted that de-merger was very much in the plans. “It couldn’t be done in 2005-06 fiscal because of certain taxation issues. The programme is still alive and we hope to de-merge early this fiscal. A committee of directors are looking into the issue.”

    HTMT has subsidiary companies which are into cable TV distribution, a cable movie channel, and movie financing and production. IndusInd Media & Communications Ltd (IMCL) runs cable TV through the Incablenet brand while CVIL operates CVO, a Hindi cable movie channel. IN Network Entertainment Ltd. (INEL), a wholly owned subsidiary of HTMT, is in film and content finance, production and distribution.

    Recently, Zee Telefilms had announced its plans to de-merge Siticable, a wholly owned subsidiary, into a separate company called Wire and Wireless (India) Limited (WWIL). This would bring specific focus into the cable business and be attractive to investors.

  • Trai issues paper on cable tariffs for commercial purposes

    Trai issues paper on cable tariffs for commercial purposes

    NEW DELHI: In a bid to bring about a semblance of difference between cable TV pricing for commercial purpose (like in Hotels) and home subscribers, Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) today issued a consultation paper to discuss the issue before finalizing some recommendations.

    The Trai paper on commercial tariff seeks to discuss issues like whether there is a need to fix tariffs for commercial purposes and its methodology, definitions of commercial consumers and how they can be differentiated from non-commercial consumers.

    A tariff order of 1 October 2004 did not distinguish between commercial and other services.
    However, while dealing with a batch of petitions filed by the hotel and restaurant industry, the TDSAT (disputes tribunal) in its judgment of 17 January, 2006 had pointed out that the regulator’s earlier order did not cover commercial services.

    Accordingly, after careful examination Trai decided as an interim measure to amend the tariff order and provide for a ceiling for commercial tariff also.

    The present consultation paper is part of an exercise to discuss the issue in detail with broadcast industry stakeholders and those representing the hotels and restaurants.

  • CAS: IBF to push for level playing field

    CAS: IBF to push for level playing field

    NEW DELHI: The Indian Broadcasting Foundation (IBF) has decided to exhort the government to mandate all other addressable systems in the country like DTH and IPTV, for example, as was being done with CAS or conditional access system.

    This suggestion was one of the many that were discussed today by the board of IBF, an apex body of broadcasting companies operating in India, during a debate to help formulate a stand on the issue of CAS, which can be taken to the government by 7 April.
    Another issue that the IBF would note down in a communication to the information and broadcasting ministry, which is holding meetings with industry stakeholders to finalise a rollout plan for CAS, is the pricing of such addressable services.

    Though the exact words are still to be formalized, IBF sources told Indiantelevision.com it was suggested that the government should be petitioned to follow a recommendation of the sector regulator on the pricing mechanism of addressable systems like CAS, DTH and IPTV with an aim to provide a level playing field to broadcasters vis-à-vis the cable fraternity.
    In a set of recommendations on addressable systems made in 2004, Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) had suggested that since addressable services depend on offering a choice to consumers, unlike non-addressable system like present-day cable TV services, pricing should be allowed to be formulated by market forces and not mandated.

    Another issue that is likely to find its way in the letter for the government involves the free-to-air bouquet of channels and its pricing.

    The IBF board feels that since the scenario has undergone a change from the time CAS was mooted in 2003 when the free-to-air (FTA )bouquet was to comprise 30 channels and priced at Rs. 72 (exclusive of taxes), more channels should now be added to the FTA package for consumers in a CAS-enabled regime.

    The argument in favour of increasing the number of channels to at least 50 is backed by the fact that the subscription-free DTH service of Doordarshan will also carry more than 50 FTA channels from May. This was announced by DD today at a press conference.

    The IBF board is also likely to express its reservation against providing a la carte pricing of channels as it might be against consumer interest.

    Though such a line of thought had been forwarded by the broadcasting industry in the US to the American regulator, the Federal Communications Commission recently put out a statement saying that the earlier report on a la carte pricing was lopsided and individual pricing of TV channels actually works to the benefit of consumers. This too is being contested by broadcasters in the US.

  • Maharashtra government doubles cable TV tax rate

    Maharashtra government doubles cable TV tax rate

    The government in the western Indian state of Maharashtra has doubled the entertainment taxes that cable TV operators have to fork out to its coffers. Taxes were levied at the rate of Rs 5,10, and 15 per subscriber, depending on the subscriber’s location. These have been doubled. The purpose to enhance the state’s revenues. The government made these announcements in the state budget for 2000-2001 announced yesterday.

    Maharashtra is amongst the leading cable TV viewing states in India. And there is alarm that other state governments may also make similar moves in their budgets.

    Fears have also risen that the imposition will actually lead to a rise in subscriber fees because cable TV operators will not be interested in forking out the higher duty from their pockets. Currently, cable TV subscriber rates in Maharashtra range between Rs 75 and Rs 125 a month. These are expected to go up by about 25 per cent at least with the average cable TV fees rising to Rs 125, unlike Rs 100 that is the average currently.

    Says Siticable western region head D.K. Pandey: “We do not have to pay entertainment tax, it’s the cable TV operator who has to do so. We are not really impacted by the hike.”

    The other MSO in Maharashtra InCableNet is expected to voice a protest against the government’s impost later today. It has been lobbying with the government on this issue. But will the higher entertainment tax result in substantially higher revenues to the exchequer?

    Marginally, probably. Normally, cable TV operators tend to under-declare their subscriber base to the tune of 70 per cent to subscription channels and to government as they want to stem the outflow of money from their end. Since there are no audits or subscriber declaration compulsions to a cable TV authority, they fudge their numbers to reduce their burden. That will likely continue here too. If the tax authorities insist on tax payments based on last year’s entertainment tax disclosures, the cable operator can easily turn around and say that he has lost subscribers to rival or smaller operators or they have not renewed their subscription.