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Tag: DTH

  • DTH subscriber addition disappointing in calendar 2016

    BENGALURU: The carriage industry — more specifically the direct-to-home or DTH industry — has had a disappointing calendar year 2016 (CY-16) going by data provided by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) in the first edition of its Yearly Performance Indicator Report of the Indian Telecom Sector for  2016 (IR-2016). This was mentioned by indiantelevision.com earlier after some players declared their results for fiscal and fourth quarter ended 31 March 2017. (FY-17 and Q4-17).

    Substantiating our findings, the TRAI report says that in CY-16 the registered DTH subscriber base grew only 14.45 percent from 84.8 million in CY-15 to 97.05 million in CY-16. A further downside was that the active subscriber base grew just 11.91 percent to 62.65 million in CY-16 from 55.98 million in CY-15. In absolute numbers this means that a little more than half (54.45 percent) of the registered suppliers (12.25million) added were active suppliers (6.67 million).

    The DTH industry had expected to grab a substantial percentage of the analogue cable subscribers from DAS Phase IV, – the sunset date for which had been extended by the government to 31 March 2017 from the earlier date of 31 December 2017.

    Please refer to the figure below for the market share of the six private pay DTH players in India. According to TRAI data, these three players had a 68 percent share of the private DTH market. Besides the six private pay DTH players, Doordarshan’s (DD) FreeDish DTH service  is a major player and is the largest DTH player by far in terms of subscribers with an estimated 15 million or 1.5 crore subscribers in 2015 as per the KPMG-FICCI Indian Media and Entertainment Industry Report 2016 (KPMG-FICCI M&E Report 2016) titled The Future: Now streaming. It must however be noted that an exact number for registered or active subscribers is not available even with DD, since this is a free DTH service.

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    Of the 6.67 million active DTH subscribers added by the industry, 4.65 million (69.72 percent) were added by three major DTH players whose information is available in the public domain. They are Bharti Airtel’s digital TV services or Airtel DTH, Dish TV and Videocon DTH.

    DAS was a huge opportunity for all the players in the television carriage ecosystem – in phase IV alone, this meant about 42 million analogue cable television homes. It is quite obvious from TRAI data that the industry has failed to do so. The DTH players could capitalize on just about 16 percent of this opportunity. And despite the extension of the sunset date to 31 March, 2017, DTH subscriber growth has slowed down even further, if one were to go by the subscribers added by the three big players mentioned above in the fourth financial quarter (1 January 2017 to 31 March 2017) – the three added a shade above half a million subscribers combined in Q4-17. Please refer to the figure below for the subscriber addition data by the three major players.

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    In FY-16 (year ended 31 March 2016) , the three players had added about 65 percent more subscribers in absolute numbers at 4.93 million as compared to the 3.81 million added in FY-17 (year ended 31 March 2017).The DTH industry witnessed a slowdown in subscriber growth even in the previous financial year. Combined subscriber additions for the annual period ended 31 March 2016 (FY-16) vis-à-vis the previous year (FY-15) grew by 14.8 percent of the three pay-direct to home operators in India.  This subscriber growth rate was however a little less than half that these entities had in FY-15 at 24.7 percent as compared to FY-14.

    Also Read :

    DTH subscriber growth slows down even further

    Active DTH subscriber growth subdued in Oct-Dec’16 quarter

    The growth of DTH in India

     

  • RINcash to recharge mobile & DTH connections

    MUMBAI: RechargeItNow.com, a brand of Online Recharge Services, recently launched RINcash Wallet. This easy-to-use online platform allows its users to make bill payments and recharge their mobile or DTH with just one click and automatically earn cashback points with other exciting offers.

    “RechargeItNow.com has launched a close-loop wallet RINcash, which offers a unique opportunity to its customers to receive credit of their rewards for using our services. Users will see unique customized offers which will enhance their value of using our services and help them earn free talktime too,” said Online Recharge Services president Sharat Jain.

    India’s online mobile and DTH recharge brand, RechargeItNow, is growing fast. It has 14 million registered users, adds 140,000 users every month and processes 40,000 recharges every day.

    RINcash Wallet provides 100% redemption of available RINcashpoints in one go. With best in the market cashback deals and offers, RINcash Wallet is both unique and flexible, because it allows customers to pay through credit card, debit card, net banking and UPI/Wallets – and is seamlessly integrated with all mobile operators and leading payment gateways in India.

    Shailendra Gupta, CTO and VP-Business Development, says, “RINcash Wallet provides awesome value through cashback deals and offers. RechargeItNow is running exciting cashback promotions for existing and new users across all platforms (desktop site, mobile site and Android mobile app), with cashback points directly credited to a user’s RINcash Wallet. We will continue to provide more value to users through new services, deals and offers. So stay tuned to RechargeItNow.”

  • Arianespace to launch ISRO-built DTH & telecom satellites

    MUMBAI: Preparations are afoot to launch two satellites aboard Arianespace’s workhorse Ariane 5 rocket for delivery to GTO (geosynchronous transfer orbit). Hellas Sat 3 / Inmarsat S EAN and GSAT-17 have been scheduled to lift off from the spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana, on 28 June (Wednesday), during a 77-minute window opening at 20:59 GMT (4:59 p.m. EDT).

    Encased in the 17-meter (55.8-foot) tall RUAG-manufactured fairing are the GSAT-17 and Hellas Sat 3 / Inmarsat S EAN satellites. GSAT-17, a 3,477-kg (7,665-pound) telecommunications satellite built by and for India, will launch in the lower position of the SYLDA payload adapter, Space Flight Insider reported.

    One of the aims of the Ariane 5 mission is the launch of two satellites on a single vehicle. On the top of the around 54.8-meter (180-foot) rocket is a pair of satellites destined to provide telecommunications and direct-to-home (DTH) television services to their respective markets.

    Sharing a single ride to orbit offers cost saving opportunities to the customers and is something at which Arianespace has become very adept. The France-based MNC has indeed been a leader in launching two large satellites to GTO for around 20 years.

    GSAT-17, which has been built by the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO), is constructed on the indigenous I-3K satellite bus. The chassis is outfitted with twin solar panels, capable of producing up to a total of 6,500 watts of DC power, tapering to 5,200 watts at the end of its 15-year design life. The satellite will provide telecommunications services, as well as support data relay and government functions, from its position at 93.5 degrees East via multiple C-band transponders.

    The first, Hellas Sat 3, was built for and will be operated by Hellas Sat. It will provide telecommunications and DTH television services to customers in Europe, the Middle East, and Sub-Saharan African countries.

  • Tata Elxsi provides CoE for Airtel Internet TV

    MUMBAI: Connected Home Center of Excellence (CoE) of Tata Elxsi, a global design and technology services company which works with leading MSOs, content providers and studios to develop innovative services and applications that create subscriber stickiness, has leveraged deep domain expertise for video, IoT and smart home services. It has also leveraged the experience of open source middleware such as RDK and Android TV, and solution accelerators to support rapid development and deployment of next-generation Connected Home services.

    The Connected Home CoE has successfully worked with leading service providers across the world, enabling the launch of new value-added services in the home context, including OTT, IoT-based security, surveillance and healthcare.

    With increasing demand from consumers for a seamless and connected viewing experience across traditional TV and OTT, operators are considering Android TV as the middleware platform for next-generation set-top boxes and home gateways.

    The latest project executed by the team is Airtel’s Internet TV. Tata Elxsi is proud to be associated with Airtel, as a technology partner for system integration for the Internet TV.

    Tata Elxsi, backed by 25 years of engineering experience and specialisation in video and OTT service delivery, developed and integrated key software components to ensure that the Android TV application suite provides a seamless user experience whether the viewer accesses online or offline content. This includes the OTA (Over the Air) upgrade module, a smart UI, customized Android TV launcher and software optimizations to future-proof the service.

    Airtel Digital TV CEO Sunil Taldar said, “Tata Elxsi has been a valuable partner in our latest innovation – Internet TV. Their engineering and integration expertise in the OTT segment has helped us in building a world-class product.”

    Tata Elxsi VP and head – broadcast business unit K P Sreekumar said, “We congratulate Airtel on the successful launch of the Internet TV. We are proud to be associated with Airtel for India’s first hybrid DTH-TV deployment using Android TV middleware. We believe that the solution has set a new benchmark for next-generation TV service delivery.”

  • Malaysia’s Astro ‘doesn’t know’ about talks with Reliance Digital TV

    NEW DELHI: Malaysian and ASEAN content and consumer company Astro Malaysia Holdings Bhd has scotched rumours about due diligence being done to buy financially-beleaguered Indian DTH operator Reliance Digital TV saying it “does not know anything” about the talks.

    “I read about it in the newspaper,” Astro CEO Datuk Rohana Rozhan was quoted as saying by website The Edge Markets in a report datelined Kuala Lumpur. The pay TV service provider’s executive further told reporters that “as a matter of principle, we don’t comment on rumours.”

    According to the website report, pressed with questions on whether Astro was denying that it was in talks with Reliance Digital TV, Rohana was quoted as saying, “I don’t know anything about it and I am the CEO of this company.”

    Malaysia’s The Star few days earlier had carried a wire agency report of Bernama that Astro was performing a due diligence to buy into Reliance Digital TV, a business venture under Reliance Communications controlled by Anil Ambani. A Reliance spokesman had declined to comment when contacted by Bernama wire agency that sourced the news story to a report in Times of India.

    The Bernama report had gone to add that with just 2 per cent subscribers in the Indian DTH market, Reliance Digital TV faces stiff competition from bigger players and a sale deal could help RCom cut its debt. Astro has a 20 per cent stake in south Indian DTH operator Sun Direct.

    Last year the Anil Ambani-controlled Reliance Communications had entered into a definitive agreement with the Zee group companies to sell its TV broadcast comprising few channels and radio FM businesses subject to regulatory approvals. Buyer Zee presently is in the process of integrating with the group the Reliance businesses.

    Astro Malaysia Holdings Berhad is a Kuala Lumpur-based content and consumer company that is recommitting towards being a technology-driven organisation in the digital, TV, radio and e-commerce space.With a customer base of 5.8 million or approximately 71 per cent penetration of total households in Malaysia, Astro serves 21 million individuals by offering a wide range of media and entertainment products spanning across television, radio, digital media and home shopping.

    Astro’s value proposition includes 188 TV channels broadcast via DTH satellite TV, IPTV and OTT platforms, of which 60 are Astro-branded and 72 are in HD. Astro also offer a non-subscription freemium service called NJOI, which offers 28 channels, of which two are in HD and 19 radio stations.

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  • Intelsat & Dalkom partner to expand broadband & DTH in Africa & Middle East

    MUMBAI: Intelsat S.A., an operator of the world’s first Globalized Network and leader in integrated satellite communications, recently announced that Dalkom Somalia signed an agreement for satellite services that will expand its broadband enterprise and direct-to-home (DTH) services in East and Central Africa and the Middle East.

    Intelsat network combines the world’s largest satellite backbone with terrestrial infrastructure, managed services and an open, interoperable architecture to enable customers to drive revenue and reach through a new generation of network services. Dalkom Somalia has grown into one of today’s fastest-growing telecom companies offering next-generation solutions for broadband, connectivity, cloud computing, managed services, satellite services and internet services for businesses, wholesale and consumers segments.

    “Dalkom has offered satellite services in the past, but the versatility of the Intelsat 17 satellite convinced them that moving to Intelsat was the best option for meeting its expansion goals”

    Under a multi-year agreement, Dalkom, a privately owned operator based in Somalia, will incorporate Ku-band satellite services provided by Intelsat 17 to extend services currently delivered by its fiber network. This includes expanding broadband enterprise networks into countries such as South Sudan and Democratic Republic of the Congo, as well as the Middle East. Dalkom will also add DTH services to its portfolio in Somalia. Intelsat 17, located at 66° East, is part of Intelsat’s video neighborhood in the Indian Ocean region.

    “We have a strong terrestrial fiber network, but our opportunities to expand into new regions and capitalize on new opportunities were limited,” said Mohamed Jama, CEO of Dalkom. “By adding Intelsat’s satellite expertise to our network, we can expand our enterprise services into regions where terrestrial technology cannot provide services. Intelsat 17 will also allow us to capitalize on Intelsat’s media distribution knowledge to introduce DTH services for customers. This makes Dalkom the first company to offer these bundled services in Somalia, offering our customers a one stop shop for communication solutions.”

    “Dalkom has offered satellite services in the past, but the versatility of the Intelsat 17 satellite convinced them that moving to Intelsat was the best option for meeting its expansion goals,” said Brian Jakins, Intelsat’s Vice President, Africa. “The ability to deliver broadband enterprise and DTH services via the same platform provides easy access to new markets and customers without worrying about network reach and reliability. This allows Dalkom to focus on growing its business. Our satellite platform will also complement its fiber services by serving as an instantly available back-up to protect against any service interruptions.”

  • Transponder charges: Plan afoot to retain DTH services on Indian sats

    NEW DELHI: The Department of Space (DoS) has said that a technical strategy is under formulation to retain direct-to-home services in the indigenous INSAT/GSAT system as well as to migrate DTH services from foreign satellite systems to indigenous system.

    This has been stated by the DoS to the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) of the Parliament, which had, early in 2016, in its fortieth report, complained about loss due to non-revision of transponder charges.

    In its action-taken report (ATR) tabled in the Parliament by the PAC recently, it has also noted that a Committee to look into the subject matter is being constituted, and its recommendation will be addressed by the DoS.

    Referring to non-revision of prices for transponders, the DoS told the PAC that lease agreements with foreign satellites are entered for a short term in order to make a provision for the end user to migrate the services from foreign satellite to the Indian satellite. This approach, the DoS claimed, is in line with the recommendation of the Cabinet approved ‘Norm, guidelines & procedures for implementation of the policy framework for satellite communication in India’.

    The Department said as the foreign operators quote lease charges in dollar terms, differential charges among indigenous capacity and foreign lease is unavoidable due to currency fluctuations and withholding taxes.

    However, it said it will work towards a scenario wherein the best possible solution for DTH services will be arrived at.

    In its original report last year, PAC had noted that DTH transponder lease agreements had a lease period from 5 to 10 years with no provision for revision of prices whereas lease agreement varied from 5% to 33%. The lack of such basic provisions resulted in revenue forgone to the tune of Rs 361.7 million.

    Furthermore, Vetted Comments of Audit Central PAC in its report last year had also wanted the DoS to set up an inquiry to look into the lease agreements with various parties and take stringent action against those responsible for agreeing to terms that were against the interest of the exchequer and apprise the Committee of the action taken within three months.

    However, it noted in the Action Taken Report that the Department did not initiate any action and instead said it had appointed a committee to look into these aspects as the lease agreements with foreign satellites are entered for a short term period and to examine periodic revision clause.

    But, the Committee said the fact remained that DTH transponder lease agreements had a lease period from 5 to 10 years with no provision for revision of prices whereas lease agreements with foreign satellites ranged from one to 6 years with provision for price revision from 5 to 33%. The price revision clause is required to be there in all the transponder lease agreements which extend for more than one year irrespective of the fact that the contract is for a shorter duration or longer duration.

  • Videocon d2h & Reliance Digital finding ways to wriggle out of tough situations

    MUMBAI: DTH companies in India are facing a tough time. While Videocon is making several significant moves to reduce its heavy debt, Reliance Digital TV is reportedly in talks with a Malaysian company to sell the business.

    Videocon is trying to repay its debt by selling some of its businesses such as Kenstar and merge its direct-to-home (DTH) division with Dish TV. But, if the Petrobras project takes off, it will be in a comfortable position, and could look at exiting the project at a later stage, a
    Videocon lender, who would accompany petroleum ministry’s delegation to Brazil, told the Financial Express.

    On the other hand, Astro Malaysia is reportedly doing the due diligence of Anil Ambani’s Reliance Digital TV, the DTH business of the listed Reliance Communications, for working out a suitable valuation, a source told the Times of India. An RCom spokesperson, it was reported, has denied commenting on the story.

    Videocon was recently declared a NPA by Dena Bank. The visit to Brazil was postponed to June; it will be a meeting between the governments of Brazil and India, but the bankers hope to lobby for faster resolution of the project so that Videocon’s cashflows improve.

    Airtel DTH, Dish TV and Videocon d2h have about two-thirds (65 percent) of market share of the DTH universe by private players in India. However, the DTH industry seems to be on a downward slide. Reports submitted by the carriage industry indicate that DTH subscriber additions in the extended period have been low.

    Now, if the transaction between Ambani and Astro goes through, it will be the second deal between the two. Astro shareholder T Ananda Krishnan’s Maxis Communications is a significant shareholder of Aircel, which is about to be combined with RCom’s wireless unit.

  • Involve MIB in transponder allocation to DTH, says House panel

    NEW DELHI: The Public Accounts Committee of Parliament has expressed that no meeting of the INSAT Coordination Committee (ICC) has taken place despite the fact that leasing of transponders to direct-to-home operators involved the information and broadcasting ministry as much as it concerned the Department of Space.

    In its action-taken report relating to its fortieth (2016) report on the subject, it has said that interactions, even if formal, between officials of DoS and MIB during the said period is entirely different from that of a decision  taken in the  meeting of ICC consisting of secretary-level  officers  of the concerned  Departments as stipulated   under SATCOM Policy.

    The Committee, while finding no merit in the DoS contention that it acted based on the  “delegated powers”  of ICC, said the Department cannot overrule the norms prescribed in SATCOM Policy.

    The Committee,  therefore, reiterated its earlier observation that DoS did not follow the prescribed procedure and exceeded  its sphere by taking unilateral decisions bypassing the mechanism on issues which were beyond its mandate and wanted to be apprised  whether any punitive action has been taken in this regard.

    At the same time, the Committee regretted that the Information and Broadcasting Ministry had failed to give its action taken reply on the observation of the Committee last year, and reiterate its earlier recommendation that all the stakeholders be involved in the sound planning and judicious decision for allocation of transponder capacity, paving way for a more transparent approach which would help in re-building of trust and faith of DTH service providers in the DoS and the Ministry.

    The Committee while noting from the reply of the DoS that the ICC meetings are being regularly convened as and when required wanted to be apprised of the total number of meetings held after 2011 and the capacity earmarked by the ICC for allocation to non-governmental users.

    The Committee  observed  from  the  reply  of  the  DoS  that  MIB is a member of the ICC and fully aware of the formal mechanism  as part of the deliberation in the 67th meeting of the ICC that “all   applications for TV uplinking and space segment requirements  are being forwarded  to DoS for clearance before licenses are issued”.  The Committee was of the ‘considered view’ that forwarding of all applications for clearance is again different from allocating satellite capacity without earmarking for non-governmental users by the ICC.

    The Committee highlighted that since DTH was a broadcasting service, it came directly under the purview of MIB as it was responsible for all matters relating to broadcasting in the country. According to the SATCOM policy, all allocations were made by DoS with the approval of the ICC. Being a· member of the ICC, MIB was also involved in satellite capacity allocation. Since the ICC was not convened, MIB and other members were inadvertently left out of the decision making process. The Committee was “shocked to note the lackadaisical approach of the Ministry of Information & Broadcasting as it remained a mute spectator while DoS was flouting norms by directly allocating satellite capacities and the MIB even did not bother to intervene for convening the ICC of which it was a member”.

    The Committee was of the view that it was high time that the different wings of the Government be proactive in their approach and keeping in view the national interest, coordinate properly for taking decisions which were crucial both commercially and strategically.

    The Committee recommended that the Ministry as well as DoS make sincere and concerted efforts to convene the ICC meetings regularly so that all the relevant stakeholders were involved in the sound planning for allocation of transponder capacity thereby paving way for a more transparent approach which could help in re­ building of trust and faith of DTH service providers in the DOS and the Ministry.

    Also Read:

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  • With 350 astro experts & 500 hrs of programming, Dominiche SVoD launches on Airtel Digital TV

    MUMBAI: Airtel Digital TV, the DTH arm of India’s largest telecommunications provider, and Dominiche, India’s first MCN catering to the DTH & OTT ecosystem, has announced the launch of Astrovaani, a 24X7 ad-free, subscription-based video on demand (SVOD) astrology channel. This is the first time that Indian viewers will have access to on-demand, round the clock, cable content focused on astrology.

    The service is available to Airtel DTH users at an introductory price of Re 1 for first 15 days. After which subscribers can access the channel for a nominal Rs. 39 month. To activate the service, Airtel DTH subscribers can give a missed call to 9109121114.

    Astrovaani will showcase a variety of astrology techniques and practices including Tarot, Vastu, Feng Shui, Palmistry, Numerology, Healing, Face reading, Aura reading as well as Runes. Also, the programming will cover astrological accessories such as gems & precious stones, rudraksh, yantra, and lal kitaab, among other things. Predictions on Astrovaani will be made by prominent names in the field of astrology including the likes of Munisha Khatwani, Bejan Daruwala, Roop Lakhani, Neel Choksi, Swami Jaganath, Eeishaa Nisha, Ssanket Jayant Popat, Bhavesh Dave, Payal Agarwal, Pooja Shirasi, Amit Lamba, Shiv Prakash, Sharmila Mohanan, Smita Mehta, Hittesh Morjaria, Kashmira Elavia, Kirti Seth, Rasesh Shah, Smriti Panchal, Tamana C Bhatia, Biindu Khuraana, Dimple Luniya, Dr. Jyoti Jhangiani, Sarmistha, Neeta Singhal, Naqqiya Jarwalla, Dr. Prem Gupta, Sangeeta Jhangiani, Jyotsna Kapoor & many more.

    Airtel Digital TV CMO Sriram Sundresan said, “Indians have shown an appetite for content related to astrology and this service will offer them easy access to the latest related in the genre and will go a long way in answering their questions on the subject.”

    Dominiche MD Utpal Vaishnav said, “As part of our endeavor to constantly make unique and compelling content available to the DTH ecosystem, we have curated and produced the Astrovaani channel. The genre has the capability to drive a lot of viewership in India. The Astro genre also fills a significant void. Astrovaani features the best Indian astro experts, Dominiche has covered this genre most comprehensively by exclusively signing up over 350 top experts and creating over 500 hours of program content.”