Tag: Internet Service Providers

Net Neutrality: Reactions from the consumers provide deep insights

NEW DELHI: Issues relating to OTT and net neutrality have been in the news for almost two years now and the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI), which had earlier issued a paper on Over-the-top (OTT) apps, came out with a paper on Net Neutrality on 30 May 2016.

TRAI’s frequent revisiting of the Net Neutrality issue highlights the fact that the regulator is under immense pressure from various stakeholders with diverse interests. TRAI had first issued a consultation paper over 18 months back and had also passed an order — hotly contested by telecom companies— banning differential pricing floated by some telcos recently, which had sounded the death gong for Facebook’s FreeBasic in India.

However as the TRAI website is seen generally only by those in the broadcasting or telecom sectors, a brief summary of TRAI’s pre-consultation paper has been placed on the mygov.in so that the general public can react and send in their feedbacks.

As a result, over 73,000 posts have already come on this site from the general public who have unanimously supported net neutrality. Some have gone to the extent of asking why TRAI or the government should ask this question.

Though indiantelevision.com firmly believes that at times the debate in India over Net Neutrality has been shrill and has clouded real and serious aspects of neutrality, there are some interesting feedbacks as well that indicate how general Indians view Net Neutrality.

For example, one writer says: “TRAI focus should be broadband speed minimum 50MBps Download/ 25MBps Upload. There should be no pollution, so focus on fiber/copper with speeds of up to 10GBps (ten GBps) and ensure that latency is very low, connectivity is much better (speed and latency are different).”

The same respondent points out that companies are offering 5GB on 4Mbps for high prices up to Rs 900 and data caps should be removed or have minimum of 1TBps. He has said that lease lines should be made affordable with customer support.

Says another respondent: “I cannot imagine an India as net partial with a discriminatory telecom structure not letting me call my kin freely, surf net with discrimination. The Governments needs to recall and emulate Dr Ambedkar’s ideas, the esteemed voice of freedom and non-discrimination of free India.”

Yet another individual says: “In the name of neutrality. Let us not stop access of net to one billion Indians. Many pay phone/net data bills (simply by transferring data) higher than electricity bills (which is consuming energy, which is costlier to produce). Let the government ensure that data service is affordable to all.”

Another consumer says, “We want freedom to choose and not Internet Service Provider choosing for us. There is also stress on removing corruption which can be done by removing interest on security deposit, seven days extra charge after disconnection refund, towers on house and low heights.”

Yet another respondent commented: “Without net neutrality, internet would go into the hands of people who can pay the ISPs to give their websites for cheaper price. This will hamper start-ups and other small players who cannot afford to pay the ISPs. For a thriving economy, it is important to have competing players in market. In the absence of net neutrality, this competition will be disrupted and monopoly will be established — which is not good for the consumers.”

But the responses are not confined to just plain feedbacks, and some people have also tried to support their theories and assertions.

A respondent has attached a presentation with diagrams to say, “Internet traffic and congestion on network problem can be sorted out by dividing the network into logistic small segments. These small logic segments can have their unique set of protocols, which when connected with the large network enable it to tackle with security and cyber issues as well as enable the large network to tackle the Internet traffic and congestion issues.

“The logical small segments should be designed and implemented in way so that they can be extended with the increase of customers as well as data demand on that network. The core of the large network can be designed/assembled in a way that its data limitations can be extended with demand (Same technique can be apply on the logistic small networks).”

The person, who seems to have some understanding of technology and its functioning, adds that designing/assembling and implementation of smart networking system will lead to a major step for providing a standard Internet facility to the individuals, having fixed rate data plan with standard accessibility and speed of the Internet facility. The diagrams show one of a road where the light poles have small boxes to pass the Internet signal from one to the next.

Incidentally, the original pre-consultation paper on net neutrality issued by TRAI on 30 May 2016 is available at http://www.trai.gov.in/Content/ConDis/20775_0.aspx on the regulator’s website does not still have any comments uploaded on the issue. The last date for submission of comments is 21 June 2016.

June 14, 2016
Net Neutrality: Reactions from the consumers provide deep insights

NEW DELHI: Issues relating to OTT and net neutrality have been in the news for almost two years now and the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI), which had earlier issued a paper on Over-the-top (OTT) apps, came out with a paper on Net Neutrality on 30 May 2016.

TRAI’s frequent revisiting of the Net Neutrality issue highlights the fact that the regulator is under immense pressure from various stakeholders with diverse interests. TRAI had first issued a consultation paper over 18 months back and had also passed an order — hotly contested by telecom companies— banning differential pricing floated by some telcos recently, which had sounded the death gong for Facebook’s FreeBasic in India.

However as the TRAI website is seen generally only by those in the broadcasting or telecom sectors, a brief summary of TRAI’s pre-consultation paper has been placed on the mygov.in so that the general public can react and send in their feedbacks.

As a result, over 73,000 posts have already come on this site from the general public who have unanimously supported net neutrality. Some have gone to the extent of asking why TRAI or the government should ask this question.

Though indiantelevision.com firmly believes that at times the debate in India over Net Neutrality has been shrill and has clouded real and serious aspects of neutrality, there are some interesting feedbacks as well that indicate how general Indians view Net Neutrality.

For example, one writer says: “TRAI focus should be broadband speed minimum 50MBps Download/ 25MBps Upload. There should be no pollution, so focus on fiber/copper with speeds of up to 10GBps (ten GBps) and ensure that latency is very low, connectivity is much better (speed and latency are different).”

The same respondent points out that companies are offering 5GB on 4Mbps for high prices up to Rs 900 and data caps should be removed or have minimum of 1TBps. He has said that lease lines should be made affordable with customer support.

Says another respondent: “I cannot imagine an India as net partial with a discriminatory telecom structure not letting me call my kin freely, surf net with discrimination. The Governments needs to recall and emulate Dr Ambedkar’s ideas, the esteemed voice of freedom and non-discrimination of free India.”

Yet another individual says: “In the name of neutrality. Let us not stop access of net to one billion Indians. Many pay phone/net data bills (simply by transferring data) higher than electricity bills (which is consuming energy, which is costlier to produce). Let the government ensure that data service is affordable to all.”

Another consumer says, “We want freedom to choose and not Internet Service Provider choosing for us. There is also stress on removing corruption which can be done by removing interest on security deposit, seven days extra charge after disconnection refund, towers on house and low heights.”

Yet another respondent commented: “Without net neutrality, internet would go into the hands of people who can pay the ISPs to give their websites for cheaper price. This will hamper start-ups and other small players who cannot afford to pay the ISPs. For a thriving economy, it is important to have competing players in market. In the absence of net neutrality, this competition will be disrupted and monopoly will be established — which is not good for the consumers.”

But the responses are not confined to just plain feedbacks, and some people have also tried to support their theories and assertions.

A respondent has attached a presentation with diagrams to say, “Internet traffic and congestion on network problem can be sorted out by dividing the network into logistic small segments. These small logic segments can have their unique set of protocols, which when connected with the large network enable it to tackle with security and cyber issues as well as enable the large network to tackle the Internet traffic and congestion issues.

“The logical small segments should be designed and implemented in way so that they can be extended with the increase of customers as well as data demand on that network. The core of the large network can be designed/assembled in a way that its data limitations can be extended with demand (Same technique can be apply on the logistic small networks).”

The person, who seems to have some understanding of technology and its functioning, adds that designing/assembling and implementation of smart networking system will lead to a major step for providing a standard Internet facility to the individuals, having fixed rate data plan with standard accessibility and speed of the Internet facility. The diagrams show one of a road where the light poles have small boxes to pass the Internet signal from one to the next.

Incidentally, the original pre-consultation paper on net neutrality issued by TRAI on 30 May 2016 is available at http://www.trai.gov.in/Content/ConDis/20775_0.aspx on the regulator’s website does not still have any comments uploaded on the issue. The last date for submission of comments is 21 June 2016.

June 14, 2016
Delhi HC restrains 200+ websites from illegally showing Balaji’s ‘Kyaa Kool Hain Hum 3’

NEW DELHI: The Delhi High Court has restrained around 203 websites from streaming, broadcasting or providing online access to Balaji Motion Pictures’ recently released film Kyaa Kool Hain Hum 3.

Passing the restraint order, the court said the production company Balaji Motion Pictures is “entitled to get protection under the Copyright Act.”

Balaji Motion Pictures had approached the High Court contending that 203 websites, local cable operators and others should be restrained from making available or showing, uploading, downloading or exhibiting the movie in any manner without proper licence from the producers.

Accepting the plea, Justice Vipin Sanghi issued notice to 300 defendants including websites and local cable operators and directed them to comply with the order restraining all of them from providing “online access in any manner.” The matter has been listed for 5 May.

Besides restraining the websites from providing access to the film, the court also directed various Internet Service Providers (ISP), Department of Telecommunications and Department of Information Technology to ensure compliance by blocking access to all the 203 websites identified by the producers.

In the Delhi High Court, Balaji counsel Abhishek Malhotra said the film cannot be viewed on any device or broadcast on any platform through Internet without their permission.

He said the cause of action arose after he received information that the defendants and unknown persons were engaged in rampant piracy and abuse of copyright in respect of various other works including the film.

“They are likely to indulge in unlicensed and unauthorised exploitation of the film merely a week ahead,” the counsel contended.

Meanwhile, the Bombay High Court has issued notices to the producers, director and writers of the film and sought a response to a public interest litigation seeking a ban on it for allegedly vulgar content.

The division bench of Justices N H Patil and G S Kulkarni said they will hear the petition next week but reprimanded the petitioner Zuber Khan for moving the court late as the film had already been released. The petition claimed the film is vulgar and against the culture and ethos of the country. “In the trailer, the film is said to be India’s first Porn comedy. The posters are vulgar with semi-nude photos,” it says. The court issued notices to the producers Ekta Kapoor and Shobha Kapoor, director Umesh Ghadge and writers Milap Zaveri and Mustaq Shaikh apart from the Censor Board and the Maharashtra government.

Khan said he would amend the petition and also seek a ban on another such film, Mastizaadefeaturing Sunny Leone amongst others, which is scheduled to release next week.

Released on 22 January, the film stars Tusshar Kapoor and Aftab Shivdasani in the lead along with Mandana Karimi, Gizele Thakral, Claudia Ciesla, Krishna Abhishek, Shakti Kapoor and Darshan Jariwala.

January 23, 2016
Delhi HC restrains 200+ websites from illegally showing Balaji’s ‘Kyaa Kool Hain Hum 3’

NEW DELHI: The Delhi High Court has restrained around 203 websites from streaming, broadcasting or providing online access to Balaji Motion Pictures’ recently released film Kyaa Kool Hain Hum 3.

Passing the restraint order, the court said the production company Balaji Motion Pictures is “entitled to get protection under the Copyright Act.”

Balaji Motion Pictures had approached the High Court contending that 203 websites, local cable operators and others should be restrained from making available or showing, uploading, downloading or exhibiting the movie in any manner without proper licence from the producers.

Accepting the plea, Justice Vipin Sanghi issued notice to 300 defendants including websites and local cable operators and directed them to comply with the order restraining all of them from providing “online access in any manner.” The matter has been listed for 5 May.

Besides restraining the websites from providing access to the film, the court also directed various Internet Service Providers (ISP), Department of Telecommunications and Department of Information Technology to ensure compliance by blocking access to all the 203 websites identified by the producers.

In the Delhi High Court, Balaji counsel Abhishek Malhotra said the film cannot be viewed on any device or broadcast on any platform through Internet without their permission.

He said the cause of action arose after he received information that the defendants and unknown persons were engaged in rampant piracy and abuse of copyright in respect of various other works including the film.

“They are likely to indulge in unlicensed and unauthorised exploitation of the film merely a week ahead,” the counsel contended.

Meanwhile, the Bombay High Court has issued notices to the producers, director and writers of the film and sought a response to a public interest litigation seeking a ban on it for allegedly vulgar content.

The division bench of Justices N H Patil and G S Kulkarni said they will hear the petition next week but reprimanded the petitioner Zuber Khan for moving the court late as the film had already been released. The petition claimed the film is vulgar and against the culture and ethos of the country. “In the trailer, the film is said to be India’s first Porn comedy. The posters are vulgar with semi-nude photos,” it says. The court issued notices to the producers Ekta Kapoor and Shobha Kapoor, director Umesh Ghadge and writers Milap Zaveri and Mustaq Shaikh apart from the Censor Board and the Maharashtra government.

Khan said he would amend the petition and also seek a ban on another such film, Mastizaadefeaturing Sunny Leone amongst others, which is scheduled to release next week.

Released on 22 January, the film stars Tusshar Kapoor and Aftab Shivdasani in the lead along with Mandana Karimi, Gizele Thakral, Claudia Ciesla, Krishna Abhishek, Shakti Kapoor and Darshan Jariwala.

January 23, 2016
TRAI seeks to exempt small Internet Service Providers from tariff reporting requirement

NEW DELHI: The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has proposed exempting any Internet Service Provider (ISP) from the reporting requirement during a financial year if the total number of its subscribers is less than 10,000 on the last day of the preceding financial year.

In a draft amendment to the Telecommunication Tariff Order 1999 for comments of the stakeholders, it has also sought to extend the existing exemption given to access providers in respect of tariff schemes offered to bulk customers in response to a tender process or as a result of negotiations between the access provider and such bulk customer to the ISPs also.

Stakeholders have been asked to send in their responses by 14 October.

TRAI is concerned that only 60.87 million broadband connections had been achieved against a target of 175 million connections by 2017. It says the country is nowhere near meeting the target for a service which is considered almost a basic necessity in many developed countries. Broadband is helping to deliver a wide range of services, from services directly related to the Millennium Development Goals set by the United Nations, to services in support of broader citizen participation or services leveraged across different sectors to bring more people into the formal economy. Therefore there is an urgent need to review the present policies and its implementation initiated to build infrastructure required for penetration of broadband in the country.

The Digital India project aims to offer a one-stop shop for Government services which would use the mobile phone as the backbone for its delivery mechanism. The Rs 1,13,000-crore initiative seeks to transform India into a connected knowledge economy offering world class services at the click of a mouse. Plans to digitally connect the country will be supported by modules on digital literacy in regional languages which the Government plans to run in the next few years.

September 24, 2014
Municipal Corp seeks to tax Bengaluru’s MSOs, ISPs

MUMBAI: The multi-system operators (MSOs) and internet service providers (ISPs) in Bengaluru will soon have to loosen their pockets and pay tax to the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) for cabling on main roads and the arterial roads of the garden city. While initially, even the local cable operators (LCOs) were in the BBMP hit list, the body, in its meeting last week has released the LCOs from paying the taxes for using its services.

BBMP has formed a committee to decide on the tax that both MSOs and ISPs will need to pay. The meeting was presided by the BBMP mayor B S Sathyanarayana and was attended by the BBMP chairman, MSOs and ISPs last week.

In the meeting held last week, the players have been asked to file the details immediately, says Sudhish Kumar

“The current discussion is that the MSOs and ISPs, who use the trunk on the main road and arterial roads of Bengaluru need to make a one-time payment for using the BBMP infrastructure, which will be applicable for next 15 years,” informs Sagar E Technologies’ executive director Sudhish Kumar, who was also present during the meeting.

Almost all the national MSOs like Hathway Cable and Datacom, DEN Networks, InCable and SitiCable along with the other MSOs operating in Bengaluru will be affected by this. “Currently, there are 11 MSOs operating in the city,” informs Kumar.

Confirming the reports is Hathway Cable & Datacom MD and CEO Jagdish Kumar G. Pillai, “Yes, the BBMP is looking at imposing a fee for using its service. We have to submit a report, and I am discussing it with my team in Bengaluru.”

So far, none of the players have coughed up anything to BBMP. However, the municipal corporation is looking at generating revenue through this levy and also wants to ensure that the city is clean. “It has now asked the MSOs and ISPs to inform them of the exact number of kilometers that they are using to provide their services. This, to ensure that they can fix a price which will be paid by the MSOs and ISPs,” says he.

Earlier, the deadline for submitting the information was 28 November; but none of the players had reported to the BBMP. “In the meeting held last week, the players have been asked to file the details immediately,” informs Kumar. Those failing to comply may find their cable wires removed.

The BBMP has also suggested that several MSOs and ISPs can form their own consortium and apply for their own trunk. The body has claimed that at least 15,000 km of cabling has been done within the city.

It’s good news for the LCOs who have been exempted from paying up. “If the LCOs had to pay for using the BBMP services, the cost would increase and that would have been passed on to the subscribers. And so the mayor in the meeting clearly pointed out that the LCOs were to be kept out of this tax.”

The municipal corporation feels that since all the MSOs also provide internet services which gives them huge revenues, it should also be shared with them. In the meeting, the mayor remarked, “If it was only cable TV service, the pricing for using the trunk could still be considered. But because they are carrying internet service business through the same trunk, they should share the revenue with the municipal corporation, which gives them the infrastructure.”

December 26, 2013
Intelsat expected to raise $471.7 million from IPO

MUMBAI: Intelsat, world‘s leading provider of satellite services, is expected to raise net proceeds of approximately $471.7 million after deducting the underwriting discounts and commissions and estimated offering expenses, from its initial public offering on the New York Stock Exchange.

This is well below the $1.75 billion target that the satellite operator had set for itself while filing for the IPO 11 months ago.

Intelsat is offering 19.32 million common shares at a price of $18 per share and concurrent public offering of three million Series A mandatory convertible junior non-voting preferred shares at a price of $50 per share.

Total net proceeds from the offering of common shares, after deducting the underwriting discounts and commissions and estimated offering expenses, is expected to be approximately $328.8 million.

Total net proceeds from the offering of Series A preferred shares, after deducting the underwriting discounts and commissions, is expected to be approximately $142.9 million.

The Company intends to use substantially all of the net proceeds from the offerings to repay, redeem, retire or repurchase a portion of its outstanding indebtedness.

Intelsat is the leading provider of satellite services worldwide. For over 45 years, Intelsat has been delivering information and entertainment for many of the world‘s leading media and network companies, multinational corporations, Internet Service Providers and governmental agencies.

For the fiscal ended 31 December 2012, Intelsat had reported net loss of $146.6 million on revenues of $2.6 billion. The company had a contracted backlog of $10.7 billion.

April 19, 2013