ITV

Tag: LCO

  • NXT Digital-InCable merger gets shareholder nod; D’Silva bemoans lack of ecosystem support

    NXT Digital-InCable merger gets shareholder nod; D’Silva bemoans lack of ecosystem support

    MUMBAI: Hinduja Ventures Ltd’s (HVL’s) proposal to demerge its NXT Digital headend in the sky (HITS) business from its subsidiary Grant Investrade Ltd (GIL) and merge it into its cable TV MSO offshoot Indusind Media & Communications Ltd (IMCL) got the thumbs up from its shareholders at its AGM yesterday.

    The cable veteran and IMCL MD & CEO Tony D’Silva says that IMCL is now on the road to fully digest NXT Digital. “We are following the legal process and have already applied to the Bombay High Court and we have also informed the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting.”

    What drove the reorganisation? D’Silva explains: “When we launched NXT Digital, it was incorporated under GIL as an independent company. At that time, we thought it’s better to apply for a licence under GIL and we got the licence. We also thought that it’s better we keep GIL as the company away from IMCL so that no operator will feel that this is a backdoor entry to take over IMCL. But now the time has passed. GIL is an established company and so the NXT Digital move.”

    HVL whole time director Ashok Mansukhani adds that work is already on to integrate both NXT Digital and InCable. Says he: “We are starting with the backend. We are already synergising both the services. We have one of the best subscriber management systems (SMS) in HITS – ICC from Hansen Technologies. InCable is using Magnaquest for its SMS it is also migrating towards ICC. They will be kept separate but there will be one front end irrespective of who the operator is. “

    D’Silva says that more than 700 cable operator premise equipment (COPEs) have been installed so far. “An estimated three million cable TV subscribers are watching television through our HITS platform,” he reveals. “The philosophy of NXTDigital is very clearly to encourage the cable operator to grow and develop his/her business and also that we are a pure service provider. We don’t want to own any network and that message has gone to all the operators across the country.”

    NXT Digital is offering four different packages to MSOs and LCOs who opt for its service. The Gold Cope cost about Rs 13.5 lakh and gives a bouquet of 550 channels, the Silver costs Rs 10 lakh (450 channels) and the Bronze Rs nine lakh (350 channels). A new Eco package has been introduced for Phase IV areas with its price point being Rs 4 lakh (250 channels).

    D’Silva points out that almost 60 per cent of the installations are of the Gold Cope Unit in Phase III areas. “Even smaller markets are wanting HD channels,” he says.

    But even so the management at NXT Digital is pretty frustrated, and are especially concerned about the future of cable TV digitization. Says Mansukhani: “The final date of digitization is the bottleneck for us. Some 50 cases are pending in the high court. On Monday some cases will be hear. On 26 September there will be five cases in front of a chief justice and on 5 October 35 cases will be heard by a single bench. The chief justice has received these cases and whether they were issued in the constitutional law and interpretation of legislation – that decision will be taken on Monday.”

    The nuking of the sunset date for digitization in phase III areas by the various court cases has blown up the progress of NXT Digital. “We had earlier agreed between the IBF, MSOs, TRAI and MIB jointly that till 31 December 2015 the sunset date for Phase III broadcasters would not charge the digital rate to facilitate to process of digitisation,” says D’Silva. “That agreement is valid even today. But broadcasters are charging cable operators analogue rates in Phase III areas and they are slapping us with digital tariffs for the same regions. How is this fair? NXT Digital does not own any network…we are providing services. The same principle should apply to phase IV also where 60 million homes need to be digitized.”

    D’Silva exhorts broadcasters and the industry to give it its total support on HITS as it is a step forward in infrastructure sharing (which is a subject of a consultation paper that the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India put up recently).

    “This must be allowed. How will a big MSO in a small area function when the switchoff happens? He has to come to me. The fact is banks are sharing infrastructure in ATMs. Telcos are doing so too. Why spend money on overbuilding infrastructure,” he asks. “Excepting one broadcaster, all of them are permitting us to provide passive services to MSOs who have a DAS licence and have content agreements with them with the proviso that they pay directly to the broadcaster subject to the SMS report filed by our HITS platform. This one broadcast network is hell bent on undermining our effort to provide television to far flung subscribers in the interiors.”

    He further adds” “Then, the subscriber in Phase IV is paying Rs 60-80 for his channels. With a digitized package it could go up to Rs 160 or so. Even otherwise he may have to pay Rs 40 for just a handful of encrypted channels. The beneficiaries are only the broadcasters and they don’t have any digital model for rural India. The BARC ratings shows more and more free to air channel are popular in rural India. Who is going to pay for pay channels?”

    Asks Mansukhani: “Are we going to have a digital divide in our country? Digitisation will only be limited to metropolitan India and benefits will not flow to rural India. And going by the current goings-on there is a great danger of that happening.”

  • TRAI gives MSOs-LCOs 15 days to sign interconnection agreements

    TRAI gives MSOs-LCOs 15 days to sign interconnection agreements

    MUMBAI: Telecom’s watchdog Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) is cracking the whip on India’s cable TV sector players. The regulator yesterday issued a cautionary note to India’s MSOs (multisystem operators) and LCOs (local cable operators) to get their act together on written interconnection agreements.

    And it warned them if them of dire consequences punishable under the TRAI

    It warned the former to supply TV signals to the latter only if the two have signed interconnection agreements. It has given the two a deadline of 15 days to sign their contracts with the MSO being given the responsibility of handing over the agreement to the LCO and getting its acknowledgement of receipt.

    The Trai warned MSOs to stop flirting with LCOs by offering them signals without a written interconnection agreement in place, failing which punishment under the TRAI act would follow.

    The Trai has also drawn up and issued the formats of a model interconnection agreement (MIA) and standard interconnection agreement (SIA) which have to be entered into by the two. The MIA can be used by the two if they agree to terms mutually in a structured manner according to regulations. If they fail to reach a conclusion under the MIA, they could use the SIA which provides standard terms and conditions prescribed by the regulations

  • TRAI gives MSOs-LCOs 15 days to sign interconnection agreements

    TRAI gives MSOs-LCOs 15 days to sign interconnection agreements

    MUMBAI: Telecom’s watchdog Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) is cracking the whip on India’s cable TV sector players. The regulator yesterday issued a cautionary note to India’s MSOs (multisystem operators) and LCOs (local cable operators) to get their act together on written interconnection agreements.

    And it warned them if them of dire consequences punishable under the TRAI

    It warned the former to supply TV signals to the latter only if the two have signed interconnection agreements. It has given the two a deadline of 15 days to sign their contracts with the MSO being given the responsibility of handing over the agreement to the LCO and getting its acknowledgement of receipt.

    The Trai warned MSOs to stop flirting with LCOs by offering them signals without a written interconnection agreement in place, failing which punishment under the TRAI act would follow.

    The Trai has also drawn up and issued the formats of a model interconnection agreement (MIA) and standard interconnection agreement (SIA) which have to be entered into by the two. The MIA can be used by the two if they agree to terms mutually in a structured manner according to regulations. If they fail to reach a conclusion under the MIA, they could use the SIA which provides standard terms and conditions prescribed by the regulations

  • Hathway goes mobile with Hathway Connect

    Hathway goes mobile with Hathway Connect

    MUMBAI: Hathway has taken its path breaking LCO portal- Hathway Connect to the next level by launching the Mobile APP version for its local cable operators (LCOs), which will further enhance and empower the operators in strengthening their business operations while “On The Move.”

    As the cable industry is paving its way through the digitization phase, technology is transcending to new platform avenues. Shifting from online to mobile gives the necessary, added tool to our LCOs to manage their business from anywhere and be more widely connected with their subscribers. They no longer need to be restricted to the confines of their offices and can easily manage their subscriber base from any location, thus, creating better efficiencies, communication and turnaround time.

    Commenting on the launch of the Mobile APP of Hathway Connect, Hathway Cable and Datacom video business president Tavinderjit Panesar said, The “Hathway Connect” online portal has been a huge success as operators have benefitted by an increase in their collections from customers. Further, there was a demand from our LCOs for a mobile version which would enable them to operate from anywhere, anytime. This transformational initiative needs to be beyond traditional platforms and this mobile APP will take customer experience to the next level and improve & speed up the operational process in our distribution chain and strengthen brand ‘Hathway.’

    Hathway Connects’ Mobile APP will be available for download on Android only and will provide all major functionalities of the online portal version required by the LCOs for conducting daily operations in an easy and convenient way. The mobile APP facilitates a series of features to LCOs such as Balance management including instant top-up of his online account with immediate credit, Pack management (renew pack, add new packs or change existing packs), bulk renewal and activation of packs in almost real-time, managing & monitoring of ground collections through field executives, thus, enhancing customer experience. The APP also sends SMS updates to customers for renewals done and the LCO can provide a printed payment receipt to customers via a Bluetooth-enabled printer.

  • Hathway goes mobile with Hathway Connect

    Hathway goes mobile with Hathway Connect

    MUMBAI: Hathway has taken its path breaking LCO portal- Hathway Connect to the next level by launching the Mobile APP version for its local cable operators (LCOs), which will further enhance and empower the operators in strengthening their business operations while “On The Move.”

    As the cable industry is paving its way through the digitization phase, technology is transcending to new platform avenues. Shifting from online to mobile gives the necessary, added tool to our LCOs to manage their business from anywhere and be more widely connected with their subscribers. They no longer need to be restricted to the confines of their offices and can easily manage their subscriber base from any location, thus, creating better efficiencies, communication and turnaround time.

    Commenting on the launch of the Mobile APP of Hathway Connect, Hathway Cable and Datacom video business president Tavinderjit Panesar said, The “Hathway Connect” online portal has been a huge success as operators have benefitted by an increase in their collections from customers. Further, there was a demand from our LCOs for a mobile version which would enable them to operate from anywhere, anytime. This transformational initiative needs to be beyond traditional platforms and this mobile APP will take customer experience to the next level and improve & speed up the operational process in our distribution chain and strengthen brand ‘Hathway.’

    Hathway Connects’ Mobile APP will be available for download on Android only and will provide all major functionalities of the online portal version required by the LCOs for conducting daily operations in an easy and convenient way. The mobile APP facilitates a series of features to LCOs such as Balance management including instant top-up of his online account with immediate credit, Pack management (renew pack, add new packs or change existing packs), bulk renewal and activation of packs in almost real-time, managing & monitoring of ground collections through field executives, thus, enhancing customer experience. The APP also sends SMS updates to customers for renewals done and the LCO can provide a printed payment receipt to customers via a Bluetooth-enabled printer.

  • DAS Phase III cases caught up in a logjam courtesy Delhi High Court

    DAS Phase III cases caught up in a logjam courtesy Delhi High Court

    NEW DELHI: With the Delhi High Court yet to decide on the date of hearing all cases seeking extension of Phase III of digital addressable system passed on to it by the Supreme Court, two more cases – before the Telecom Disputes Settlement and Appellate Tribunal – have been put off again.

    Petitions by the Rohtak Cable Operator Association, Haryana, and Rewari Cable Operators Association against Siti Cable Networks have been put off to 11 August by member B B Srivastava.

    In the previous hearing on 6 May 2016, the cases had been put off in view of their pendency before the Punjab and Haryana High Court.

    However, the Tribunal said that in view of the directive by the Punjab and Haryana High Court that SitiCable will not interfere with the operators continuing to transmit in analogue, the previous order of 6 May 2016 of the Tribunal will continue.

    In its order on 11 July 2016, the Tribunal noted the statement by counsel for the cable operator organizations that the matter was now being transferred to the Delhi High Court after the order of the Supreme Court but “is yet to be listed.”

    But the Tribunal said the LCOs will continue to pay the monthly subscription fee as per the previous agreement and on thebasis of invoices raised by the respondent in order to receive signals.

    The registry of the Supreme Court has sent to all the concerned High Courts the directive of the apex court of 1 April for transfer of all cases seeking extension to digital addressable system for cable television to Delhi High Court with a view to avoid conflicting decisions.’

    A copy of the order was also sent to the Delhi High Court and it was now up to that Court to fix a date, Supreme Court officials said.

    The officials said that the attempt would be to first receive from the various High Courts the papers relating to the petitions, which almost all had pleaded shortage of set top boxes for seeking extension or stay of DAS which became effective 1 January 2016.

    The apex court had accepted the plea of the Central Government that ‘it would be just and proper for this Court to withdraw allthose cases pending in different High Courts and transfer the same to the Delhi High Court.’

    Ironically, the Information and Broadcasting Ministry had on 12 January 2016 written to its counsel in Punjab and Hryana High Court that it had understood the Hyderabad order to mean a pan India stay while asking him to defend the case.

    But later, the Ministry sources admitted to indiantelevision.com that there was a misreading of the Bombay High Court directive. The Court had merely refereed to the Kusum Ingots & Alloys Ltd vs the Union of India 2004 case to say that if one High Court gives a stay, another High Court can act in similar fashion if the facts are similar – in this case, shortage of STBs. Thus, they agree that the High Court stay was only confined to Maharashtra and not pan-India.

    Earlier, the Indian Broadcasting Foundation had withdrawn its petition after the Supreme Court said that the order of the Bombay High Court did not imply any pan-India stay.

    The last DAS Task Force meeting on 30 May 2016 was informed that a total of 42 court cases have been filed for extension in the deadline of Phase lll in various courts in the country with the two-month extension by the Telangana & Andhra Pradesh High Courts. Other Courts followed suit in the ground that this order was extendable to other areas. This led to the Centre moving the Supreme Court which passed an order of transfer of all cases for extension filed in various courts and any new cases on similar prayer to the Delhi High Court for adjudication.

    The meeting was also told 17 cases had been transferred by various courts to the Delhi High Court out of which the High Court had dismissed three cases and another three cases were being heard that same day.

  • DAS Phase III cases caught up in a logjam courtesy Delhi High Court

    DAS Phase III cases caught up in a logjam courtesy Delhi High Court

    NEW DELHI: With the Delhi High Court yet to decide on the date of hearing all cases seeking extension of Phase III of digital addressable system passed on to it by the Supreme Court, two more cases – before the Telecom Disputes Settlement and Appellate Tribunal – have been put off again.

    Petitions by the Rohtak Cable Operator Association, Haryana, and Rewari Cable Operators Association against Siti Cable Networks have been put off to 11 August by member B B Srivastava.

    In the previous hearing on 6 May 2016, the cases had been put off in view of their pendency before the Punjab and Haryana High Court.

    However, the Tribunal said that in view of the directive by the Punjab and Haryana High Court that SitiCable will not interfere with the operators continuing to transmit in analogue, the previous order of 6 May 2016 of the Tribunal will continue.

    In its order on 11 July 2016, the Tribunal noted the statement by counsel for the cable operator organizations that the matter was now being transferred to the Delhi High Court after the order of the Supreme Court but “is yet to be listed.”

    But the Tribunal said the LCOs will continue to pay the monthly subscription fee as per the previous agreement and on thebasis of invoices raised by the respondent in order to receive signals.

    The registry of the Supreme Court has sent to all the concerned High Courts the directive of the apex court of 1 April for transfer of all cases seeking extension to digital addressable system for cable television to Delhi High Court with a view to avoid conflicting decisions.’

    A copy of the order was also sent to the Delhi High Court and it was now up to that Court to fix a date, Supreme Court officials said.

    The officials said that the attempt would be to first receive from the various High Courts the papers relating to the petitions, which almost all had pleaded shortage of set top boxes for seeking extension or stay of DAS which became effective 1 January 2016.

    The apex court had accepted the plea of the Central Government that ‘it would be just and proper for this Court to withdraw allthose cases pending in different High Courts and transfer the same to the Delhi High Court.’

    Ironically, the Information and Broadcasting Ministry had on 12 January 2016 written to its counsel in Punjab and Hryana High Court that it had understood the Hyderabad order to mean a pan India stay while asking him to defend the case.

    But later, the Ministry sources admitted to indiantelevision.com that there was a misreading of the Bombay High Court directive. The Court had merely refereed to the Kusum Ingots & Alloys Ltd vs the Union of India 2004 case to say that if one High Court gives a stay, another High Court can act in similar fashion if the facts are similar – in this case, shortage of STBs. Thus, they agree that the High Court stay was only confined to Maharashtra and not pan-India.

    Earlier, the Indian Broadcasting Foundation had withdrawn its petition after the Supreme Court said that the order of the Bombay High Court did not imply any pan-India stay.

    The last DAS Task Force meeting on 30 May 2016 was informed that a total of 42 court cases have been filed for extension in the deadline of Phase lll in various courts in the country with the two-month extension by the Telangana & Andhra Pradesh High Courts. Other Courts followed suit in the ground that this order was extendable to other areas. This led to the Centre moving the Supreme Court which passed an order of transfer of all cases for extension filed in various courts and any new cases on similar prayer to the Delhi High Court for adjudication.

    The meeting was also told 17 cases had been transferred by various courts to the Delhi High Court out of which the High Court had dismissed three cases and another three cases were being heard that same day.

  • TRAI open house on DAS interconnect opens up differences amongst stakeholders

    TRAI open house on DAS interconnect opens up differences amongst stakeholders

    NEW DELHI: An Open House Discussion (OHD), organised by regulator TRAI on inter-connection framework for broadcasting TV services distributed through addressable systems (DAS), brought out the fact that yawning gaps still exist between broadcasters and distribution platforms.

    The OHD, organised on Wednesday to garner final viewpoints of stakeholders after they have already submitted their stand on the issue, highlighted that the industry is still fighting for short to medium term gains instead of seeing the big picture.

    While the broadcasting fraternity stood its ground saying, by and large, that interconnect agreements are private matters between two parties after mutually agreeing on certain terms, distribution platforms maintained that “more transparency is needed.”

    “How can it be that a matter related to a broadcaster is private and nobody can ask about them, while those relating to us (distribution platforms) are supposed to be made public?” Jawahar Goel, managing director, Dish TV asked.

    Goel’s probing query came after Star India, quoting various laws and regulations, said that the regulator should not encroach upon or erode broadcasters’ “right to freedom of contract in negotiating with distribution platform operators (DPOs).”

    In its submission Star India had said, “The proposed regulations must allow freedom to negotiate to broadcasters so as to meet the peculiar demands of the market. Universal treatment to all seekers of signals— despite intelligible differences — is not an obligation imposed by law nor is it desirable.”

    Issue like discounts offered by broadcasters, pay channels turning FTA, cloning of existing content to start another TV channel, regulation of OTT platforms managed and owned by broadcasters, cost of spectrum charges paid by consumers for accessing OTT services, the vagueness of interconnect agreements without geographical locations mentioned and the pitfalls of a proposed Interconnect Management System (IMS) whereby commercial data and information could be put in an encrypted form in limited public domain were amongst many issues brought up by stakeholders.

    Pointing out broadcasters “impose stringent packaging restrictions” on DPOs, Videocon d2h, expressed its concerns on HD channels and their pricing, highlighting the fact that the difference in cost of the same content in standard definition and high-definition is hard to explain to price-sensitive consumers.

    While TRAI chairman RS Sharma in the beginning observed that transparency, non-discrimination and consumer interests were paramount, amongst other things, when the regulator proposes a regulation, some MSOs and LCOs (led by a vocal Roop Sharma of Cable Operators’ Federation of India) vociferously said it’s transparency that’s lacking.

    Dish TV also highlighted the discrimination between the licensing regime of DTH operators and cable ops — DTH licensee pays an annual fee, while a cable op doesn’t pay any licence fee on registration .

    Bharti Telemedia, part of the telecoms-to-media giant Bharti group, reiterated Dish TV’s point on DTH ops being treated differently saying a “non-level playing field amongst the various types of service providers” exists.

    In its submission to the TRAI earlier, Bharti had stated that DTH operators pay a higher tax of 34.5% and have a transparent business operation, while “digital cable operators, who have a similar nature of business, are not transparent and are also not liable to pay any licence fee.”

    Though global trends indicate there’s convergence of services and service providers, in India there seems to be hardly any convergence of ideas or consensus amongst the various stakeholders and this would make any regulator’s job that much tougher. Unless one leaves market dynamics to take care of many issues that were raised at the OHD.

  • TRAI open house on DAS interconnect opens up differences amongst stakeholders

    TRAI open house on DAS interconnect opens up differences amongst stakeholders

    NEW DELHI: An Open House Discussion (OHD), organised by regulator TRAI on inter-connection framework for broadcasting TV services distributed through addressable systems (DAS), brought out the fact that yawning gaps still exist between broadcasters and distribution platforms.

    The OHD, organised on Wednesday to garner final viewpoints of stakeholders after they have already submitted their stand on the issue, highlighted that the industry is still fighting for short to medium term gains instead of seeing the big picture.

    While the broadcasting fraternity stood its ground saying, by and large, that interconnect agreements are private matters between two parties after mutually agreeing on certain terms, distribution platforms maintained that “more transparency is needed.”

    “How can it be that a matter related to a broadcaster is private and nobody can ask about them, while those relating to us (distribution platforms) are supposed to be made public?” Jawahar Goel, managing director, Dish TV asked.

    Goel’s probing query came after Star India, quoting various laws and regulations, said that the regulator should not encroach upon or erode broadcasters’ “right to freedom of contract in negotiating with distribution platform operators (DPOs).”

    In its submission Star India had said, “The proposed regulations must allow freedom to negotiate to broadcasters so as to meet the peculiar demands of the market. Universal treatment to all seekers of signals— despite intelligible differences — is not an obligation imposed by law nor is it desirable.”

    Issue like discounts offered by broadcasters, pay channels turning FTA, cloning of existing content to start another TV channel, regulation of OTT platforms managed and owned by broadcasters, cost of spectrum charges paid by consumers for accessing OTT services, the vagueness of interconnect agreements without geographical locations mentioned and the pitfalls of a proposed Interconnect Management System (IMS) whereby commercial data and information could be put in an encrypted form in limited public domain were amongst many issues brought up by stakeholders.

    Pointing out broadcasters “impose stringent packaging restrictions” on DPOs, Videocon d2h, expressed its concerns on HD channels and their pricing, highlighting the fact that the difference in cost of the same content in standard definition and high-definition is hard to explain to price-sensitive consumers.

    While TRAI chairman RS Sharma in the beginning observed that transparency, non-discrimination and consumer interests were paramount, amongst other things, when the regulator proposes a regulation, some MSOs and LCOs (led by a vocal Roop Sharma of Cable Operators’ Federation of India) vociferously said it’s transparency that’s lacking.

    Dish TV also highlighted the discrimination between the licensing regime of DTH operators and cable ops — DTH licensee pays an annual fee, while a cable op doesn’t pay any licence fee on registration .

    Bharti Telemedia, part of the telecoms-to-media giant Bharti group, reiterated Dish TV’s point on DTH ops being treated differently saying a “non-level playing field amongst the various types of service providers” exists.

    In its submission to the TRAI earlier, Bharti had stated that DTH operators pay a higher tax of 34.5% and have a transparent business operation, while “digital cable operators, who have a similar nature of business, are not transparent and are also not liable to pay any licence fee.”

    Though global trends indicate there’s convergence of services and service providers, in India there seems to be hardly any convergence of ideas or consensus amongst the various stakeholders and this would make any regulator’s job that much tougher. Unless one leaves market dynamics to take care of many issues that were raised at the OHD.

  • Delay in Phase III monetisation likely to disturb profitability of MSOs: ICRA

    Delay in Phase III monetisation likely to disturb profitability of MSOs: ICRA

    MUMBAI: In the cable TV space, in the current fiscal the revenue growth of multiple system operators (MSOs) will remain sensitive to regulatory changes, says ICRA. While lifting of stay orders and consequent discontinuation of analog signals in Phase III markets will remain a key subscription revenue growth driver, any extension with respect to Phase IV deadline (beyond December 31, 2016) will impact the activation revenues.

    With an estimated population of over 60 million households in Phase IV markets, cable TV players do not anticipate any extension in Phase IV deadline. However, the implementation is expected to be along the experience of Phase III, with analog signals being discontinued in a phased manner. Of the analog population in Phase III and Phase IV markets, residual analog subscriber base amongst the top three MSOs stood at ~9.5 million subscribers only (as on March 31, 2016), against a total analog population of over 6 0 million in the country, indicating healthy growth opportunities for DTH operators and regional MSOs. In this direction, DTH operators have introduced lower priced vanilla STBs and channel packages to tap the opportunity in Phase IV markets; however, DD Free Dish is also expected to emerge as a key player in Phase IV, given the price sensitive nature of subscribers.

    “Over the last few years, market leaders in the cable TV space have adopted an inorganic growth strategy for entering new geographies and increasing their subscriber universe, consolidation in the cable TV space is expected to continue as MSOs look at further strengthening their market position in their respective geographies,” says ICRA Ratings SR GVP Subrata Ray.

    While the overall placement revenues are expected to remain buoyant, driven by new channel launches and the inclusion of tier II and tier III markets in audience measurement metrics; some correction on account of the change in the nature of content deals (net of placement revenues) with larger broadcasting networks is anticipated. While the subject of discontinuation of analog signals in Phase III markets remains under litigation, monetisation of the Phase III markets is expected to get deferred by nearly a year before the benefits of the healthy STB seeding, achieved in Phase III markets, start percolating.

    “In view of the potential delays in Phase III monetisation, ability of the MSOs to improve cost efficiencies and ARPUs from Phase I and Phase II markets remains crucial to support the profitability metrics in the current fiscal,” says Ray.

    During this transition phase, the cash accruals of MSOs are expected to improve gradually as incremental capex requirements are likely to remain low.

    “The capex outlay of MSOs over the medium term will be driven towards achieving higher broadband penetration in identified markets; investments in LCO management and improving penetration of value-added services such as HD channels and Video-on-Demand in digitised markets. In addition, replacement capex for STBs seeded in Phase I and Phase II markets will also drive the investment requirements of MSOs over the medium term,” adds Ray.