ITV

Tag: Digital CATV

  • STB availability key to Cas success

    STB availability key to Cas success

    MUMBAI: Availability of set-top boxes (STBs) is one of the key concerns for the successful roll out of conditional access system, speakers at a workshop on “Cas and Digital CATV” said here today.

    Cable operators should not only look at the price of the boxes but also the quality of features it offers as there is revenue to be earned from the consumers. “While what is being pushed now in India is basic boxes, there is need also to go in for middleware that enables enhanced facilities. The important question to be asked is what the boxes can do. Cable operators will be able to, after all, earn revenues from features like video-on-demand and gaming,” said Technosat managing director Irshad M Contractor.

    The Dubai-based company is prepared to set up a manufacturing facility in India if the demand for STBs pick up. Technosat has boxes ranging from basic to premium features on MPEG-2 and is currently conducting trials on MPEG-4.

    Though multi-system operators (MSOs) are currently importing boxes, several manufacturers in India are keen to come up with local production facilities. “We are introducing 4-5 flavours of STBs that are fully developed in India. The boxes will have personal video recorder (PVR) and digital video recorder (DVR). We are integrating the encryption system with Conax. We are also in talks with other Cas technology providers,” said Surbhi Broadband general manager sales P C Mishra.

    The two-day workshop, which concluded today, was organised by Satellite & Cable TV (SCaT) magazine and attracted over 250 delegates. The focus was on facilitating cable operators to make the transition from analogue to digital cable. The issues covered ranged from digital headends to billing solutions for Cas.

    Speaking on digital headends for simulcasting digital video broadcasting – cable (DVB-C), Peter Batt of Teleste said there was need to offer on demand TV and other value-added services. The third generation headends improved footprint and power consumption while offering unicast/multicast video services and triple play. But the fourth generation IP-centric headend for DVB-C and IPTV combined everything and offered “ultimate flexibility.”

    Earlier SCaT editor and executive director Dinyar Contractor said Headend-In-The-Sky (HITS) would mean rapid digital and Cas roll out as it would reach out to the smallest and far flung last mile operators (LMOs). Even as Cas made it unviable for LMOs to set up a digital Cas headend and offer a large pay bouquet, HITS offered several advantages to them.

    “The transmodulator cost is as low as Rs 2000 per channel and the LMOs can assemble their own, local basic tier. It is economically attractive if the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) permits nationwide Cas,” he said.

    SCaT chairman Sudeep Malhotra spoke on uplink and downlink policies, elaborating on the regulatory framework prescribed for the different genres of channels such as news and sports. “There are 164 Indian channels licensed to be uplinked from India. The channels that are registered and allowed to be downlinked into India amount to a total of 54 channels,” he said.

  • Trai not for mandated Cas in rest of India

    Trai not for mandated Cas in rest of India

     MUMBAI: The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) feels Cas (conditional access system) should roll out voluntarily rather than be mandated in other parts of the country.

    “We may think of mandatory Cas for the larger metros but in other parts of the country it may not be the best way forward. We haven’t, though, made up our mind on this. We have constituted a small group representing all the stakeholders to suggest on how to take voluntary Cas forward. We realise that Cas has gained momentum and wouldn’t like to miss on that opportunity,” said Trai advisor M C Chaube while speaking at a workshop on “Cas and Digital CATV,” organised by Satellite & Cable TV (SCaT) magazine in Mumbai.

    With some cable operators continuing to transmit unencrypted signals in the Cas areas, the broadcast and cable sector regulator intends to come down heavily on them.

    “We are aware that there are still slippages and there are complaints that encryption have not taken place in some areas. We are going to take action against this as it is at the core of Cas,” said Chaube.

    Reacting to a suggestion from the three multi-system operators (Wire & Wireless India Ltd, Hathway Cable & Datacom and Incablenet) that Cas should be opened up to the other areas of Mumbai, Delhi and Kolkata by April, Chaube said the process needed a certain run-up time. “Cas is not just about three MSOs. The smaller MSOs should be given time to prepare for laying out the digital infrastructure. Consolidation is bound to happen as digitalisation requires deep pockets, but as a regulator we shouldn’t have such a time frame in mind that makes it difficult for the smaller MSOs,” he added.

    Trai would relook at such areas like pricing and a la carte issues in the middle of this year. “We are going to revisit at some of these decisions and take a call whether appropriate adjustments are needed. We would be examining such issues as similar pricing for all genres of channels, a la carte offerings and Rs 77 on free-to-air (FTA) channels,” Chaube said.

    The seeding of set-top boxes (STBs) would touch 500000 in a week’s time out of an estimated cable and satellite home of 1.2 million in the Cas belt. “The average penetration would be 40 per cent. Kolkata is seeing slow offtake because regional channels are popular and they are in FTA mode. Our aim is not to see that boxes are sold but to offer consumers choice through Cas,” Chaube clarified. The penetration percentage though will be clearer when figures are available on the number of homes that have more than one TV sets.

    The next stage of progress would be when consumer forms return to the MSOs and they are fed into the subscriber management system (SMS).

    In case of voluntary Cas, the crucial element was for the broadcasters and MSOs to enter into commercial agreements, he added.

    In a panel discussion, WWIL MD Jagjit Kohli pointed out that Trai should come out with some regulatory framework to facilitate voluntary Cas and Headend-In-The-Sky (HITS). “Broadcasters may not support voluntary Cas. So it would be essential for Trai to define some rules as the momentum for digitalisation should not be lost,” he added.

    Hathway Cable & Datacom MD and CEO K Jayaraman pointed out that cable operators in non Cas areas should be ready to adopt digitalisation which has grown much faster in India than what was being initially preicted.

    Incablenet head Ravi Mansukhani said the seeding process has been successful and the next step for MSOs would be to stop free access of pay channels in phases.