ITV

Tag: Hathway

  • Hathway plans Rs 1 billion debt for CAS; VoIP launch by year-end

    Hathway plans Rs 1 billion debt for CAS; VoIP launch by year-end

    MUMBAI: Rajan Raheja-promoted Hathway Cable & Datacom plans to raise Rs 1 billion as debt to fund the first phase of conditional access system (CAS). The multi-system operator (MSO) is also preparing to launch voice over internet protocol (VoIP) services by the last quarter of the year.

    “We will require an investment of Rs 1 billion for which we will be raising debt,” says Hathway Cable & Datacom CEO K Jayaraman.

    The bulk of the investments will be towards subsidising the digital set-top boxes (STBs). Funding will also be required in setting up VoIP and expanding broadband infrastructure. The company has tied up with telecom major Bharti for VoIP.

    “We are conducting test runs and expect to launch VoIP services by the year-end. MSOs will have to infuse capital in the changing business environment. On each STB, the subsidy works out to Rs 1,500,” says Jayaraman.

    The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) has fixed the pricing of the boxes in the CAS areas. Cable TV service providers will have to offer digital STBs on a monthly rental scheme of Rs 30 and a refundable security deposit of Rs 999. There will be no payment for installation, activation charges, smart card/viewing card, repair and maintenance cost.

    The cost of the STBs including the smart card is around Rs 3,500. “Once we drive in volumes, the price of procuring these STBs should fall by 15-20 per cent,” says Jayaraman.

    Hathway will also be aggressively pushing digital cable TV in non CAS markets. The MSO launched its digital services in Jalandhar a few days back, having rolled it out earlier in New Delhi, Mumbai, Pune, Bangalore, and Hyderabad.

    “Starting with Jalandhar, we plan to roll out our digital services across Punjab over six months. In the first phase, 16 cities of Punjab will be connected by the end of this year,” Jayaraman says.

    The a la carte pricing of channels will increase the penetration of STBs in CAS areas, Jayaraman believes. “We expect a 80 per cent penetration if the broadcasters get the pricing right within a maximum of Rs 5 per channel,” he says.

  • HBO, Star Movies start to feel blackout pinch

    HBO, Star Movies start to feel blackout pinch

    MUMBAI: It has been two weeks since English film channels HBO and Star Movies have been off air in Mumbai. While the Hindi film channels have returned with the undertaking not to air ‘A’ rated films, the problem with the above mentioned two channels is that they do not have enough films rated U and U/A to put on air for 24 hours.

    In Mumbai, Hathway and InCable, which control 55 per cent of the cable homes in Mumbai, have not resumed telecast of these two channels. Even some other areas of Mumbai that have other service providers are not getting them. The first problem is that a significant percentage of the viewership for English movie channels (around 15 per cent) each week, comes from Mumbai.

    The second difficulty is that the channels have to get their films cleared by the Censor Board. A Star official says that the channel is in the process of submitting the films. He was non committal when asked as to when the channel was expected to be back on air.

    HBO too, has a significant backlog to be cleared. While attempts to contact HBO proved unsuccessful, a Zee Turner official says that it is looking to help HBO in the process. The repercussions of the blackout are already starting to show however.

    On the ad revenue front, information available with Indiantelevision.com indicates that agencies will ask for some kind of compensation if the problem is not resolved soon. The amount of course will depend on the delay in getting the channels back on the air.

    On the distribution front though, the Zee Turner official says that the cable fraternity has been cooperative and understanding of the situation. Of course subscribers in Mumbai will continue to pay for HBO. So there is no loss there in the absence of addressability.

    The longer this drags on the better it is for the likes of Zee Studio and Pix. While the ratings are not yet out they would have benefitted to some extent as some viewers who would normally watch HBO and Star Movies tune in to them.

    What is interesting though is that Zee spokesperson Ashish Kaul says that the blackout is too restrictive to be a reason for the channel to do anything drastic like push forward its planned marketing campaign. “Had it been a nationwide blackout, the situation would have been different. While more people in Mumbai will tune in to us we need to push ourselves more for them to stay with the channel once HBO and Star Movies come back on. We will be launching new properties and a campaign in around three weeks time. If the blackout is still on (which looks likely) then we will certainly see more visibility.

    “However we recognise that the blackout is temporary and to get viewership in the long term we need to create better visibility for ourselves. It is important that our brand position of being a channel for the movie connoisseur be clear.”

    Another beneficiary from the blackout would be DVD libraries. A spokesperson from a library says that more English movie DVDs are being rented on the weekends. The blackout does not affect rentals the weekdays as people in any case do not have the time, he says. On weekends though the number of English film DVDs being rented is up by around 15 per cent over the past couple of weeks.

  • ‘Banned’ channels allowed to go on air; some operators await decoders

    ‘Banned’ channels allowed to go on air; some operators await decoders

    MUMBAI: After Sahara One and Filmy, the weekend saw the return of the remaining seven “banned” channels to most cable TV networks in Maharashtra.

    However, these channels were still off air on networks of major multi-system operators (MSOs) like Hathway and In Cable (who hold sizeable chunk of connections in Mumbai) as well as Zee Group controlled Siticable, among those that had their equipment confiscated by the police in raids on 21 August, when reports last came in. These cable networks were expected to start beaming all the channels again once their decoders were in place.

    The first to get back on air was Zee Cinema, while the other six channels – Star Gold, Star One, Star Movies, HBO, AXN and Max – came back soon after.

    Zee Cinema, like Sahara One and Filmy, had claimed that it was telecasting U/A certified movies.

    Broadcasters of other channels also got the clearance to get back on air soon after with the Mumbai police social service branch granting permission to the channels to resume transmission late on Saturday.

    The permission came with a rider though: that the channels would follow the Mumbai High Court directives that they would not air uncertified as well as adult movies.

    The nine channels had originally been blacked from 21 August after the Mumbai Police confiscated the decoders of major cable networks and beaming equipment of channels on the charge that they had violated the law by telecasting uncertified movies. This followed orders from the Bombay High Court that channels showing adult movie content should be taken off off air.

    Meanwhile, the Cable Operators and Distributors Association (Coda) have decided to meet the information and broadcasting (I&B) minister Priya Ranjan Das Munshi to express their protest against the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai)’s support to direct-to-home (DTH) service providers for using multi-dwelling unit (MDU) technology.

    “We are planning to meet the I&B minister for placing our case against MDU. DTH is to home and not direct-to-building,” says CODA president Ganesh Naidu.

  • Hathway rolls out broadband services in Chandigarh

    Hathway rolls out broadband services in Chandigarh

    MUMBAI: The Rajan Raheja promoted Hathway Cable & Datacom, in which Star India has a 26 per cent stake, has launched its broadband service in Chandigarh.

    Apart from cable internet services, Hathway is also planning to launch digital cable in the city.

    The company has launched a mix of pre-paid and post paid packages to provide choice to the customers. The packages will be available from 256 kbps for Rs 250 per month (download limit of 400 mb) and 512 kbps for Rs 500 per month (download limit of 1 gb), according to an official release.

    The company is targeting residential, small medium enterprises and corporates. Hathway’s broadband services are available in the cities of Mumbai, New Delhi, Jalandhar, Ludhiana, Pune, Nashik, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Chennai, Mysore and Chandigarh.

    “We are planning to launch our cable internet services in Kanpur as well. We have close to 90,000 broadband subscribers,” says Hathway & Cable Datacom CEO K Jayaraman.

  • Hathway launches interactive gaming service

    Hathway launches interactive gaming service

    MUMBAI: Hathway Cable & Datacom has launched an interactive gaming service on its digital cable television services.

    Launched on 10 July, the gaming feature would initially be available to all Hathway digital subscribers on a free of cost basis.

    For the gaming technology, Hathway has selected NDS, a global provider for open end-to-end digital pay TV solutions. Once the digital box is activated, the customer needs has to select the gaming icon on the screen and access the available games such as Lilly Lovers, Stubby the Sock Gnome and Sumo Temple. Many more games will be added in the course of the year, according to an official release

  • CAS rollout: Delhi HC ‘no’ to government plea for more time

    CAS rollout: Delhi HC ‘no’ to government plea for more time

    NEW DELHI: The Indian government yet again pleaded for more time to roll out CAS — six months to be exact — but a Delhi court has refused to accede to the request asking for a final stand by the next date of hearing.

    According to early information available with Indiantelevision.com, even the broadcast regulator pleaded for four to five months time to sort out CAS-related issues like pricing of TV channels.

    The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) submitted to the Delhi High Court today that it has initiated a dialogue with the industry stakeholders on issues related to CAS and which would take few months time to complete and arrive at some consensus.

    However, the court was in no mood to listen to such pleas and fixed the next date of hearing for 19 July.

    The court observed that if the government is unable to sort out CAS matters, then it could also explore the possibility of going ahead with the rollout based on the Chennai model.

    It also said that the government has already used up three month’s time from 10 March when the first directive came to roll out CAS in Kolkata, Delhi and Mumbai within a month’s time.

    Chennai is the only city in India where CAS has been rolled out and running smoothly since 2003.

    Reference to do away with government mandated CAS was also mentioned in the court today during a hearing and reference was made of the relevant section from a draft Broadcast Bill 2006, which is being circulated amongst government organizations for feedback.

    A clutch of MSOs, including Hathway and INCablenet, had filed a case against the government on CAS in the Delhi High Court late 2004, alleging that keeping addressability in abeyance had resulted in financial losses to the petitioners.

  • Hathway launches interactive music channel ITV Digital

    Hathway launches interactive music channel ITV Digital

    MUMBAI: The Rajan Raheja promoted Hathway Cable & Datacom, in which Star India has a 26 per cent stake, has launched a dial-up interactive music channel I-TV through its digital services.

    The channel, which was launched yesterday and is currently available in Mumbai and Pune, will also be taken to other cities in due course, according to a statement issued by the MSO. Hathway is already running a movie and entertainment based channel CCC.

    “I-TV Digital will be a completely ‘ads-free’ channel and with its launch through our digital services Hathway ensures that its viewers receive great music that caters to all ages,” company spokesperson Haresh Gehaney was quoted in the release as saying.

    The I-TV Digital is packaged differently for its viewers who will be able to choose from a wider variety of songs categorised into various genres that include rock, pop, classical (English & Hindi), reggae and remixes.

    I-TV operates through the advanced hands-free technology for providing instant music on demand. Software the channel uses enables the operation of the service from a video server placed at each and every head-end in cities, which in turn are connected via the cable TV network, states the release. 

    Hathway’s digital cable TV services provides more than 150+ TV channels, radio channels and value added features like EPG as well as gaming (introduced last month).

  • HC raps government on CAS delay; next hearing 5 July

    HC raps government on CAS delay; next hearing 5 July

    NEW DELHI: The government today got some reprieve and the stick on the issue of CAS from the Delhi High Court.

    While fixing 5 July as the next date for hearing in a case pertaining to implementation of CAS in three cities, the court questioned the government’s rationale for seeking 265 days for rollout of addressability.

    On 10 March, the Delhi High Court had directed the government through the information and broadcasting ministry to implement CAS in four weeks.

    The order had come on a petition filed by some MSOs, including Hathway and INCablenet.

    A few days after the 30-day deadline got over in April, the government and sector regulator had filed an appeal in the court seeking more time to facilitate rollout of CAS.

    The government’s contention was that a consensus needed to be evolved for implementing CAS for which eight to nine months time was needed.

    However, the court today reiterated that it would like to see the rollout happen during this calendar year and directed the government to deposit a fine of Rs 100,000.

  • I&B minister to take CAS review meeting

    I&B minister to take CAS review meeting

    NEW DELHI: Information and broadcasting minister Priya Ranjan Dasmunsi will review developments on CAS vis-a-vis court cases.

    The meeting was scheduled to happen either today or early next week. Pointing out that the government is committed to implementing CAS, Dasmunsi told indiantelevision.com on Friday, “I’ll review CAS in a meeting and try to understand the issues that have beset it.”

    The minister however, refused to spell out in detail his agenda on CAS. “The ministry’s broad stand on CAS has been conveyed to the (Delhi) high court.”

    In a reply filed before the Delhi HC some days back, the government sought eight to nine months’ time to implement the court’s order on rolling out addressability in Indian cable homes in select cities.

    Dasmunsi also hinted that a big roadblock in the way of smooth implementation of CAS are the different voices in which the various industry stakeholders are speaking.

    “There hardly seems to be a consensus amongst them,” the minister said on the sidelines of a book release function in the capital.

    On 10 March 2006, the Delhi HC had directed the government to roll out CAS in Delhi, Mumbai and Kolkata within 30 days time.

    The directive came on a petition filed by a bunch of MSOs, including Hathway and INCablenet, alleging that a delay in implementing CAS since 2004 has resulted in huge financial losses to them.

    The I&B ministry held a series of meeting with the industry, NGOs and consumer bodies soon after the court order, but said in view of inconsistency in the approach of the stakeholders, more time would be needed to iron the differences.

    The next date of hearing of the CAS case is 24 May.

  • Hathway launches digital cable in Hyderabad

    Hathway launches digital cable in Hyderabad

    MUMBAI: Even as the government is assimilating views of the various industry stakeholders on how to roll out conditional access system (CAS) smoothly, multi-system operators (MSOs) are busy plotting expansion of their digital cable TV service.

    Hathway Cable & Datacom today announced the launch of its digital cable in Hyderabad. The MSO has already rolled out its digital services in Chennai, Mumbai, New Delhi, Pune and Bangalore.

    Digital cable TV services are offered to the customer through a remote controlled digital device, which will be accompanied by a fully functional sleek smart card.

    “The advantages of the digital set-top boxes (s) is that the consumer does not have to pay extra money in their monthly cable TV bill but in turn can enjoy over 150 digital channels. The device costs over Rs. 2500,” Hathway said in a release.