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Tag: cable

  • GTPL Hathway acquires SCOD18 Networking to expand footprint in Maharashtra

    GTPL Hathway acquires SCOD18 Networking to expand footprint in Maharashtra

    MUMBAI: Cable TV and broadband service provider GTPL Hathway has acquired 100 per cent shares of SCOD18 Networking Pvt Ltd on Monday. The company informed the exchanges about the acquisition in a filing on Tuesday.

    While the company has a strong presence in Gujarat, the acquisition has been done with an object of enhancing its footprint in neighboring state Maharashtra. SCOD18 which has now become wholly-owned subsidiary of GTPL Hathway, had a turnover of Rs 305.64 million as on 31 March.

    GTPL Hathway posted a net profit of Rs 29.4 crore for the quarter ended 30 June as against a net loss of Rs 28.1 crore in the trailing quarter ended 31 March. EBITDA was up 6 per cent at Rs 115.6 crore compared to Rs 103.6 crore in Q4 FY19.

  • 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.

  • TRAI may look at “finetuning” new tariff order

    TRAI may look at “finetuning” new tariff order

    MUMBAI: The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) may look at “finetuning” the new tariff order for cable and broadcasting sector to address any “aberrations”, as per a news report by Economic Times. However, the regulatory body won’t rush into this without adequate data backup.

    “When a new thing is put in place, you always notice that in some areas, things are not working out the way you had imagined, or in some areas some finetuning is required,” TRAI chairman RS Sharma told ET. Sharma also added that the new regime marked a “paradigm shift,” giving customers transparency and choice as well as providing a level playing field for operators.

    “Finetuning will require some data and we don’t want to get into that on the basis of anecdotes, ARPU (average revenue per user), number of litigations, etc. We’re looking at this carefully and collecting data and will finetune (the regulation) at the right time,” Sharma said. He said that the regulatory body is looking at if there are any aberrations in the implementation of the tariff order and they would rectify accordingly.

    However, it was not clear if the finetuning will also consider looking at ways to reduce monthly cable and DTH (direct-to-home) bills of consumers. The new tariff order reduced the cable bill for users who use fewer channels but it increased it for many. Even, some subscribers found the new regime complicated.

    He also clarified that subscribers will have the freedom to select separate channels on their second set-top box like they can do for their first box. He also noted that the industry agreed to give discounts for the second box.  While he acknowledged that adapting to the new regime is taking time with people learning along the way, he said consumers need to have complete control over choosing and paying for channels.

    “We’ve issued show-cause notices, etc. So, we’re very proactive to ensure that aberrations that take place are set right before they become the regular practice,” Sharma said while mentioning that in some places broadcasters are not doing it.

  • TRAI tariff order to drive people to online consumption

    TRAI tariff order to drive people to online consumption

    MUMBAI: Of late, there have been several speculations on the impact of the TRAI tariff order on consumers including hike in monthly cable bill and migration to OTT platforms.

    The research agency YouGov conducted a study to find its impact among 1,020 respondents. As per the study, 92 per cent are aware of the new TRAI tariff order while 76 per cent have already made alterations to their DTH subscription as per the new guidelines.

    “In general, 3 in 5 (62 per cent) of North India residents look at the new TRAI framework favourably. On the other hand, a third of residents from South India (32 per cent) are not so optimistic about the new regulation and more than half (54 per cent) feel they may have to spend more on their subscription going forward,” the report says.

    However, despite TRAI’s onstant claim that the new order will bring down cable bill, 54 per cent of those who have made modifications to their channel subscription said they pay more than what they paid earlier. On the other hand, 32 per cent feel they pay lesser than what they paid earlier. Only 14 per cent feel there has been no change as they pay the same amount as before.

    Interestingly, 59 per cent of the customers who have already switched to new plans think this rule is going to be favourable for end customers like them. Even among those who haven’t yet upgraded their subscription, 58 per cent look at this change favourably.

    The research also shows that 49 per cent of the respondents feel that the new regulatory framework will increase the amount of time they spend watching original content on OTT. In addition to that, two out of five people feel this move will increase the amount of time they spend online watching TV content.

    “The countrywide implementation of the new regulation is bound to have an impact on viewership and advertisers need to revisit their media plans in accordance with the changing consumer behaviour. Although TV viewing may not change drastically, we see the likelihood of people moving online. Advertisers thus need to carefully align and study how they can reallocate their budgets,” YouGov India general manager Deepa Bhatia commented.

  • TRAI’s new tariff order has made ecosystem transparent: RS Sharma

    TRAI’s new tariff order has made ecosystem transparent: RS Sharma

    MUMBAI: The new tariff order has been rolled out aiming transparency in the cable and broadcasting sector of India. Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) chairman RS Sharma reiterated that the new regulatory framework has brought transparency in the ecosystem along with non-discrimination and fair play. Sharma also asserted that it has reduced the bills of the average TV watcher.

    "The implementation of the new broadcast tariff regime is working out very well. The monthly bills of thousands of consumers have also been reduced. The consumer's bill is a function of how much he watches, if he or she watches hundreds of channels obviously the bills will go up. If someone watches 25 channels, the bill will come down to one-third," Sharma told as quoted by IANS.

    "The objective of the regulations is to essentially bring out a regime of transparency and allow the customers to choose channels which they want to watch, and then allow the market forces which were not in play earlier," he added.

    Earlier the market was only focused on distributors and broadcasters but consumers were not actively participating.

    He also added that the implementation of the new tariff regime has removed the difference between the small operator and a large operator, as they both get the channels at the same rate from the broadcasters. Moreover, he asserted that the basic objective of the new regime to create a buffet of channels where everyone is charged the same rather than reducing or increasing the bills.

    Sharma’s comment comes at a time when several reports, as well as surveys, have indicated that there has been a hike in the monthly bill under the new price regime. Due to the change in pricing, many experts predicted that consumers would shift to OTT platforms eventually. To decrease the churn rate, some of the DTH players have removed network capacity fee for long duration packs.

    Earlier, the regulatory body in February extended the deadline to pick new channels under the new regime till 31 March as well as gave a directive of Best Fit Plans. The subscribers that don’t opt for new channels would be moved to ‘Best Fit Plans’, which would be developed as per usage pattern, language and channel popularity, the sector regulator said in its statement.

  • Ortel CFO Satyanarayan Jena steps down

    Ortel CFO Satyanarayan Jena steps down

    MUMBAI: Satyanarayan Jena, the chief financial officer of the MSO Ortel Communications has stepped down. The resignation of the executive was effective from yesterday.

    “We hereby inform you that Satyanarayan Jena, has resigned from the post of chief financial officer of the company. The company has accepted his resignation and he will be relieved of his responsibilities effective from close of business hours on 28 February 2019,”  the company said in a BSE filing. Jena was elevated as CFO back in 2017 when Manoj Kumar Patra resigned from his position. He was associated with the company since 12 November 2015.  

    Ortel Communications is undergoing corporate insolvency resolution process (CIRP) and as on 27 November 2018, the National Company Law Tribunal passed an order for comencement of CIRP in last November. Sony Pictures Networks India( SPNI), an operational creditor of Ortel filed the application.

  • TRAI clarifies tariff regime didn’t restrict Ind-Aus T20I match

    TRAI clarifies tariff regime didn’t restrict Ind-Aus T20I match

    MUMBAI: The thrilling last ball finish in the T20I match between India and Australia on 24 February grabbed the attention of many but was not accessible to the consumers of cable TV networks. This was apparently due to the implementation of the new regulatory framework prescribed by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI), according to reports in certain sections of the media and other social platforms.

    However, TRAI clarified that the tariff regime, in no way inhibited or restricted the telecast of India and Australia T20I cricket match. It stated, “The non-availability or non- transmission of the recent cricket matches (T20I and ODI) being played between India and Australia over the cable networks has nothing to do with implementation of new regulatory framework of TRAI for broadcasting and cable services.”

    TRAI also pointed out that the transmission are governed by the Supreme Court judgement dated 22 August 2017.

    It also quoted the Supreme Court’s direction stating, “Under Section 3 of the Sports Act, 2007 the live feed received by Prasar Bharati from content rights owners or holders is only for the purpose of re-transmission of the said signals on its own terrestrial and DTH networks and not to cable operators so as to enable the cable TV operators to reach such consumers who have already subscribed to a cable network.”

    After the decision of the Supreme Court, Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (MIB) issued a notice dated 12 April 2018, asking all the DPOs to display a caption, during the broadcast of sports events of national importance, on DD Sports channel that “The match/ game can be viewed in free-to-air mode on DD Sports channel, on DD FreeDish and DD terrestrial network”.

    Therefore, the distribution platform operators (DPOs) have to switch off the DD Sports channel from their cable networks during the period of the matches under the recent India-Australia T20I and ODI series.  

    “Therefore, the rumours circulating in some sections of the press or in social media platforms holding TRAI regulations responsible for non-transmission of the cricket matches in cable networks are baseless and incorrect,” TRAI concluded.

    Recently, TRAI extended the deadline for consumers to pick their television channels under the new tariff regime till 31 March. The subscribers that don’t opt for new channel would be moved to ‘Best Fit Plans’, which would be developed as per usage pattern, language and channel popularity.

    According to TRAI, close to 100 per cent of cable subscribers and 57 per cent of DTH subscribers have been shifted to new packs.

  • TRAI: Almost 100% cable consumers have picked channels in new tariff regime

    TRAI: Almost 100% cable consumers have picked channels in new tariff regime

    MUMBAI: The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) held a meeting on Friday with distribution platform operators (DPOs) where it was informed that almost all cable consumers have either made their channel preferences or moved to ‘best fit plan’ under the new tariff regime, according to a report by the Press Trust of India.

    The meeting was attended by multi-system operators (MSO) and all major DTH players to review the progress of migration of TV viewers under the new framework.

    TRAI secretary SK Gupta said, "According to inputs received by the regulator from players, in the case of DTH services, about 43 per cent customers have made their channel preferences known. When combined with statistics for ‘best fit plan’, this number rises to 57 per cent."

    The DTH service providers have submitted to TRAI that all subscribers of this prepaid platform will be migrated to the new framework in the next 2-3 weeks. TRAI has also emphasised to players that customers should not face any inconvenience or service disruption during the migration process.

    Earlier this month, the regulator had extended the timeline for consumers to make their channel preferences till 31 March 2019.

    “TRAI is urging subscribers to exercise their options to select TV channels of their choice, immediately. DPOs have been instructed to execute the options of subscribers at the earliest,” he said.

  • TRAI to take action against errant service providers

    TRAI to take action against errant service providers

    MUMBAI: In order to address customer concerns regarding the new tariff regime that came into effect from 1 February, the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has taken considerable steps to educate and inform people.

    Noting that several service providers have not been active in getting people migrated, it has, according to a report by Telecom Talk, said that customers who are grappling with faulty connections can lodge a complaint at a designated call centre.

    The authority even stated that if there is no word from the operator even after making a claim, subscribers won’t have to pay after 72 hours. After witnessing the issues being faced by customers, TRAI extended the date for choosing packs till 31 March and even asked operators to ensure that those who have prepaid for their connections should not suffer any cable loss. The least that can be done is to temporarily move people to packs which are close enough to their previous choice.

    TRAI has also taken similar steps to address the concern of exorbitant rates being charged by DTH and cable operators for service charges. It has capped cable charges to Rs 200-300 and DTH at Rs 500.

    A few days ago, TRAI said that about 6.5 crore cable and 2.5 crore DTH homes have been migrated to the new regime. This means 9 crore out of the total 17 crore TV homes in the country have successfully adopted new plans. It had said that it will take up massive consumer awareness programmes through print, social media, ads and other programmes to ensure the message reaches out to consumers.

    It even told operators that in cases of a second TV connection in the same home, they have the option to forgo or provide a discount on the base charge of Rs 130.

  • TV9 enters Hindi heartland with TV9 Bharatvarsh

    TV9 enters Hindi heartland with TV9 Bharatvarsh

    MUMBAI: TV9 News Network is all set to launch its national Hindi channel, TV9 Bharatvarsh, next month in Delhi. The channel is ready with its largest news studio in the country, which will use the best of AR and VR technologies, and BOT news tracker in its presentation.

    Already a leader in regional media with six news channels in different parts of the country, this will be TV9 network's grand entry into the national media with its wealth of journalistic experience.

    TV9 Bharatvarsh will strive to change national television with its unique style of aggressive presentation blended with investigative journalism that will focus on the rights of the people. The Hindi channel will bring back issues that really matter and use the medium of television keeping the core values of humanity and people's interests in the forefront.

    Associated Broadcasting Company Private Limited (ABCL) was started in 2003 by a group of young journalists lead by Ravi Prakash as CEO. TV9 Bharatvarsh will be a free to air news channel. It will be available across all the platforms and will have a presence on cable, DTH and digital platforms worldwide.