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Tag: Hathway Broadband

  • TRAI jurisdiction: Madras HC yes to MSOs as interveners, no as impleaders

    NEW DELHI/MUMBAI: The Madras High Court yesterday gave concession to the MSOs allowing them to intervene on matters of law under consideration. But, the court refused to let them implead, via AIDCF, in a case filed by broadcasters (content generators) challenging whether regulator TRAI can have jurisdiction over commercial issues relating to copyright of content.

    Both sides — petitioners Star TV and Vijay TV and All India Digital Cable Federation (AIDCF) — viewed the court stand as a moral victory.

    Star TV and Vijay TV had moved the Madras High Court pleading that Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI), India’s broadcast carriage and telecoms regulator, didn’t have jurisdiction to issue guidelines that had a bearing on tariff of content, both TV and film, especially if such issues were also governed under the copyright law.

    In an official statement, AIDCF said the court was “pleased to permit AIDCF to participate in the proceedings as (an) intervener” allowing it to “file all relevant material, make oral submissions and file written submissions in the main writ petition.”

    The AIDCF statement, quoting organisation president and Hathway video division CEO TS Panesar, said, “We are delighted to note the decision of the Madras High Court in recognising us as an important stakeholder in this matter.”

    A source close to the petitioners, however, described the court’s decision as “disallowing” MSOs to directly implead in the main writ petition, the same way as it had not allowed Indian Broadcasting Foundation (IBF) to implead itself in the case. “AIDCF can only intervene on the main matters of law under consideration, which is whether TRAI has jurisdiction over copyright issues relating to content,” the source opined.

    TRAI, which has been trying to bring about semblance of order in the broadcast and cable sector in India via various guidelines, could not be reached for comments by indiantelevision.com till the time of writing this report. However, TRAI chairman RS Sharma had told indiantelevision.com in an year-end interview in December 2016 that the regulator’s main aim behind issuing draft guidelines relating to broadcast and cable tariff, quality of service and interconnection was to reduce litigation amongst stakeholders and create a broad playing arena for all players, including the consumers.

    Industry sources had indicated that the MSOs had moved the court as they apprehended viewpoints of distribution platforms of TV services in India, notably the MSOs, may not be heard; especially when they have views that don’t converge with those of the petitioners on all aspects of the petition.

    However, there is lack of clarity on the status of the petition filed by Videocon D2H, a distribution platform, to get impleaded in the aforementioned case being heard by Madras HC. The matter is listed for another round of hearing 7 March, 2017.

    Incidentally, the Supreme Court, petitioned by TRAI, had refused to intervene in the case being heard by Madras HC and had stated in its last hearing few days back that it would wait for the outcome at the high court, listing TRAI appeal for a March-end hearing.

    ALSO READ:

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    MSOs join issues with TRAI tariff plea at Madras HC

    Tariff order: Don’t notify without SC nod, TRAI told; Madras HC case to continue

  • Hathway Broadband launches High speed Wi‐Fi Broadband Homes

    Hathway Broadband launches High speed Wi‐Fi Broadband Homes

    MUMBAI: Hathway Broadband Internet, one of the largest cable broadband companies in India, has announced a tie up with D‐Link to offer High speed Wi‐Fi routers bundled in the market under the “Wi‐Fi Broadband Homes” initiative.

    All existing and new customers of Hathway Broadband across the country can avail this offer and convert their wired homes into “Wi‐Fi Broadband homes” with speed of upto 15Mbps. Hathway has achieved a significant penetration into the consumer home segment since the implementation of DAS through its Digital Cable Business . The company intends to leverage on its robust Hybrid Fibre Coaxial (HFC) network to deliver a superior Broadband Experience to the Home Internet users.

    “Consumer Broadband usage has shifted to concurrent multiple wireless device consumption at home” said Hathway Cable & Datacom MD and CEO Jagdish Kumar. “Hathway Wi‐Fi Broadband Home Solution, combines a high speed broadband delivered on our superior HFC network combined with the best in class D‐Link Wi‐Fi router. It is the most efficient and economical way to harness the power of all your Wi‐Fi enabled devices like tablets, smartphones and laptops at home.”

    Expressing his views on this association with Hathway, D‐Link CEO Tushar Sighat said, “Hathway is leading broadband service provider in the country, while D‐Link is an undisputed leader offering internet connecting devices for over two decades. Thus this unison will definitely result in an uninterrupted, reliable & revolutionary wireless internet service for home users. With   the unique mydlink cloud router on the offering we are confident to bring alive a never before secured Wi‐Fi broadband experience.”

    “A typical modern family by using the Wi‐Fi Broadband Home solution at home can save upto Rs 500 per month” said Hathway Broadband business head Kunal Ramteke. “All modern Wi‐Fi devices like tabs and smartphones seamlessly switch their data usage from a cellular Edge/3G network to the Wi‐Fi Broadband home network where‐ever available. Therefore customers will now enjoy a significantly superior internet experience at a lower cost with D‐Link Wi‐fi Broadband homes.”

    Hathway will not charge any one time fee or monthly rentals for the Wi‐Fi device. D‐Link Wi‐Fi router will be given to the customers for free at zero cost.  However customers would be charged a nominal fully refundable security deposit. 

    All D‐Link Wi‐Fi routers provided by Hathway will also enjoy a hassle free replacement advantage at no cost and will be supported by D‐Link Direct Service (DDS)