ITV

Tag: Direct To Home (DTH)

  • MIB issues operational guidelines for DTH broadcasting services in lndia

    MIB issues operational guidelines for DTH broadcasting services in lndia

    Mumbai: The ministry of information and broadcasting (MIB) on Friday issued operational guidelines for obtaining a licence for providing direct-to-home (DTH) broadcasting services in India. The ministry stated that these guidelines have been issued in accordance with the modified DTH guidelines released on 30 December, 2020.

    As per the notice, these guidelines provide the operational framework with respect to the payment of licence fees, platform services (PS) channels, and sharing of infrastructure by DTH operators.

    The policies outline the timetable for the quarterly payment of the licence fee by DTH operators.

    Regarding platform service (PS) channels, the guidelines provide the definition of “platform services” and establish the norms for the DTH operators in running these services, which inter alia include that:

        The total number of PS channels permitted per operator is limited to five per cent of the total channel carriage capacity.

        All PS must carry a caption as “platform services” to distinguish them from the linear channels.

        The content of the PS is to be exclusive to the platform and is not to be shared directly or indirectly with any other distribution platform operator.

        All PS channels are to be placed together under the genre “platform services” in the Electronic Programme Guide (EPG) along with their maximum retail price and option for activation/deactivation of PS as per the applicable orders/directions/regulations of Trai.

    The operational rules for the DTH operator’s infrastructure sharing set forth the framework within which the sharing may be regulated, the processes for accountability and compliance, and the specific obligations of the parties to the sharing.

    These operational instructions are in force as of the order’s issuance date, which is 16 September, 2022.

  • Videocon d2h launches brand store on eBay India

    Videocon d2h launches brand store on eBay India

    MUMBAI: eBay India has announced the launch of a brand store by direct to home (DTH) operator Videocon d2h. Through this association, eBay India consumers across 4,306 cities, towns and villages in the country will be able to purchase Videocon d2h set top boxes with the added advantage of free installations even in remote areas.

     

    To begin this association, Videocon d2h has announced the online release of region-wise standard, HD and HD DVR offers. Videocon d2h offers special online packages nationally and region-wise for consumers to access their 500 channels and services including 27 ‘Asli HD’ channels for a real-life viewing experience.

     

    eBay India head strategy Ratul Ghosh said, “We are delighted to announce the Videocon d2h brand store on eBay India. This is the first time that the premier DTH provider has launched its online brand store in India. In our constant endeavour to have a wider range of products for our customers, we now have a plethora of brands selling through their official brand stores on our marketplace.”

     

    “eCommerce in India is a mainstream phenomenon today, filling a wide availability gap for consumers in the country’s hinterland. eBay India, with 3,281 Bharat Hubs (tier II & III towns) and 1,015 Rural Hubs, offers an excellent platform for us to reach millions of untapped households in the country. We aim to optimise this large user base as part of our multi-channel strategy to offer consumers an unparalleled television viewing experience,” added Videocon d2h CEO Anil Khera.

     

    eBay India provides an eCommerce ready store, popular deal properties and high internet shopper traffic for brands across categories. With over 1.1 million live listings at any given point, eBay India reaches out to over 2.1 million active consumers across 4,306 cities, towns and villages in India, making it an effective eCommerce platform for merchants of all sizes.

  • Television needs to reposition as convergence source with digitisation

    Television needs to reposition as convergence source with digitisation

    MUMBAI: Digitisation of cable TV has provided television broadcasting industry an opportunity to reposition itself as a convergence source. The future is full of opportunities for everyone, according to Telecom Regulatory Authority of India member R K Arnold.

     

    Every stakeholder will benefit once the process of digitisation is complete. Thirty per cent of cable TV homes have been digitised in Phase I and Phase II.

     

    “There are (a total of) 100 million cable TV homes. Once all these homes are digitised, we will be able to provide broadband services,” said Arnold said in his keynote address at the CASBAA India Forum 2014.

     

    Arnold is confident of achieving 100 per cent digitisation in 2014 itself.

     

    Arnold also spoke on the Direct-to-Home (DTH) players. “While DTH has grown along with digitisation, they do not have two-way communication as required for broadband,” he said.

     

    The first two phases of digitization has brought the multi-system operators in direct contact with 30 million customers. “This makes it necessary that we are more customer oriented. We need to beef up customer service delivery, and that is a challenge,” said Hathway Cable & Datacom MD & CEO Jagdish Kumar.

     

    According to Indian Broadcasting Foundation (IBF) secretary general Shailesh Shah, deploying infrastructure is challenging but is doable. “For full digitisation, analogue switch offs are needed,” said Shah.

     

    Shah expects digitisation to be completed only by the middle or towards the end of 2015. Phase III of digitisation is mandated to be completed by the end of September 2014 and Phase IV by the end of December 2014.

     

    One of the biggest challenges for multi-system operators in achieving digitisation in phase III and phase IV is that they will need to reach cable TV homes in the smaller towns and villages, unlike in the top 42 cities in Phase I and Phase II where they already had substantial presence.

     

    “Connectivity is a huge challenge,” said Hathway’s Kumar.

     

    The MSOs have in all seeded 30 million Set Top Boxes (STBs) in phase I and phase II. “As a community, we have spent close to Rs 3,000 crore. When any industry makes such a huge investment, the repayment time is 4-5 years. We are trying to change the system, and it will not happen in a year or two,” informed Kumar.

     

    Turner International India south Asia MD Siddharth Jain feels broadcasters will have the fruits of digitisation only after a beginning is made for signing deals on the basis of per STB.

    “The broadcasters currently do not have the count of STBs. There needs to be complete transparency,” Jain said.

     

    The total funding needed for deploying STBs in phase III and IV is Rs 14,000 crore. “It is impossible to expect the MSOs to invest in both the STBs and optical fibre. The government has to help in this infrastructure,” said MyBox Technologies CEO Amit Kharabanda.

     

    To promote better content carriage in the rural areas, the government is implementing a National Optical Fibre Network (NOFN) project to connect all the 2.5 lakh gram panchayats.

     

    “When we had a meeting with the MSOs, we found several gaps. Now NOFN is planning to expand its network from the district level to the block level and then panchayats. If this happens, in the next 2 years, we will see different ways of carrying content,” said Ministry of Information & Broadcasting joint secretary-broadcasting Supriya Sahu.

     

    The industry stakeholders speaking at the CASBAA India Forum also suggested that for smooth completion of digitisation, phase III and phase IV digitization should not be taken up simultaneously.