ITV

Tag: Local cable operators (LCOs)

  • JAINHITS conducts first ever LCO meet in Chennai

    JAINHITS conducts first ever LCO meet in Chennai

    MUMBAI: JAINHITS, India’s first and only HITS based Direct to Network (DTN) service, attracted a large number of local cable operators (LCOs) at its first ever state business meet in Chennai.

     

    While the dispute with the central government regarding DAS license to the state-owned ARASU network is not showing any signs of early resolution, the cable operators showed interest in the JAINHITS platform and expressed their resolve to digitise their networks because they did not want to miss the advantages of the digital revolution and also because their clients want the legal and transparent framework for running their promising business.

     

    At the meet, senior members of JAINHITS briefed cable operators about JAINHITS’ services and offerings. They further briefed on JAINHITS cost effective solutions to LCOs for running fully DAS compliant digital cable TV services. During the interactive meet the LCO’s were interested to know more on the entire spectrum of consumer products and services that will be provided by JAINHITS such as high speed, cloud and hybrid broadband TV (HBB TV).

     

    The key concern of the LCOs was the ownership of the control room and they were happy to learn that they can set up their own control room at nominal costs while maintaining QOS (Quality of Service Standards) as prescribed by TRAI.

     

    Queries and concerns of LCOs regarding technology, services, channel packages, DAS regulations etc were addressed by JAINHITS team. LCOs were provided with a brief overview on the digitisation scenario of the country vis-?-vis digitization in Tamil Nadu. They were also educated on how JAINHITS technology helps them to achieve digitization and addressability in one go. JAINHITS team also gave the demo of their MPEG – 4 high quality signals to prove the superiority of their service.

     

     Addressing the meet, JAINHITS chairman Dr JK Jain stated that JAINHITS is supporting the struggle of small and independent local cable operators who are under the threat of big money lords. He also said that the monopoly over the content as well as on the distribution channels is not a desirable practice. JAINHITS supports a decentralized model of electronic media ownership and therefore is forging partnerships with small Cable Operators. He further added that his company believes in transparent business dealings. Conducting such joint meetings with Cable Operators aims at promoting the understanding and business acumen of the stakeholders.The greatest beneficiary of JAINHITS in the State of Tamil Nadu is going to be the State Government because the system will stop the theft of Government revenues and shall improve the tax collections and compliance by a large number of TV viewers.

     

    Enthusiastic team of young entrepreneurs and cable operators who have constituted ABCN Network organised the event. JAINHITS has already appointed ABCN the non exclusive regional service partners.

     

    ABCN chairman Marimuthu said, “One of JAINHITS key propositions is that it allows cable operators to retain business control and simultaneously enhance their growth with a very-low capital solution for digitization.”  Mr. Nazir Ali, CEO of the ABCN told the Cable Operators at the meet that as the DAS deadline is getting closer (30th September and 31st December 2014), it is imperative that cable operators of the state of Tamil Nadu join hands with India’s first and only HITS player.

     

    The company also used the platform to introduce some exclusive discounts and offers and some exclusive head end deals to those who commit large subscriber base.

     

     JAINHITS offers high quality cost effective solutions to LCOs for running fully DAS compliant Digital Cable TV services to its subscriber. It also offers high speed broadband service, multi-screen, and many more value added services along with consumer products such as cloud broadband, hybrid broadband TV (HBB TV) etc. Currently JAINHITS offers 250+ channels including all major pay TV and soon full HD and multi-screen service shall be avaiable to consumers.

     

    Currently, JAINHITS is offering dual audio feed to seven channels namely Disney, Cartoon Network, Pogo,Discovery, History TV18, Animal Planet and Nickelodeon. JAINHITS has partnered with the world’s leading technology company ARRIS (former Motorola Home) and Intelsat – the largest Satellite Company in the world. The key proposition of the JAINHITS platform is conversion of LCO as MSO with very minimum cost and providing all end to end solutions for Digital cable and Broadband services. With this, JAINHITS is all set to install over 3000 Mini Downlink Headend’s across India by the end of 2014, the 32 districts of Tamil Nadu will play a significant role.

  • A bumpy ride for gross billing in Kolkata

    A bumpy ride for gross billing in Kolkata

    KOLKATA: It’s been five months, since multi system operators (MSOs) started gross (consumer) billing. However, according to cable industry sources, consumers in certain pockets of the Kolkata Municipal Area (KMA) are unwilling to accept bills or pay the billed amounts.

     

    On the other hand, there are three to four MSOs that have not yet handed over bills to the local cable operators (LCOs), and are instead uploading them to their servers and asking LCOs to take print outs thereof and give it to customers, sources inform.

     

    MSOs are meeting regularly to discuss smooth rollout of gross billing in KMA, given that both West Bengal and central government authorities have asked them to expedite the billing process. “Since the billing process hasn’t kicked off in the way it should have, we are meeting on a regular basis to discuss issues like billing, collection and disputes among operators among others,” said a MSO on condition of anonymity.

     

    Another source argued that MSOs that have not yet started the package could not have started the billing process either, so how can their gross billing be acceptable?

     

    A GTPL-KCBPL official said that the company was facing collection issues in localities such as Sobha Bazaar among others in the KMA. “The problems include billing, area disputes etc,” informed another MSO.

     

    “MSOs are billing the full amount of the package but actually, they are getting a much lesser amount in hand. This problem needs to be solved first,” said yet another MSO on condition of anonymity.

     

    A city-based cable analyst meanwhile said, “Billing is a mess as LCOs are not willing to collect the billed amount and consumers are not willing to pay.”

     

    Kolkata has nearly 30 lakh cable homes where till mid-January, MSOs were issuing ad hoc bills.

  • Chrome Dii report unveils carriage fee spends in 2013-14

    Chrome Dii report unveils carriage fee spends in 2013-14

    MUMBAI: The Indian distribution industry is a complicated one and plagued with issues. 

    In the fourth round of Chrome Dii (Distribution Investments Index), the Chrome Data Analytics & Media has revealed carriage fee numbers across cities, thus giving a semblance to the much unorganised distribution industry.

    The study highlights that the carriage fees paid to the multi system operators (MSOs) and the local cable operators (LCOs) have sky rocketed year on year due to the limited bandwidth on the analogue platform. But post digitisation, there has been a substantial correction owing to the opening of analogue bandwidth bottleneck.

    “Dii has emerged as a powerful tool used by most broadcasters for internal audits and renegotiations. This also helps them in channelising and rationalising their carriage fee spends. Dii clubbed with the sub-base, gives them the return on investments across cable networks in 450+ cities of India. It takes into account the footprint of individual cable networks and co-relates the same to the average carriage fee spend for a particular band/frequency on that particular network.  It gives the region-wise, market-wise and MSO-wise carriage fee spends further broken down to individual cable operators across the country,” says media veteran and Chrome Data Analytics and Media executive director Jeffrey Crasto.

    The audit company’s CEO and founder Pankaj Krishna adds, “Digitisation was expected to be a harbinger of correction leading to nullification of carriage fees. As per TRAI, they had anticipated the Chrome Dii to come down to Re 1, however though there has been a significant drop; it has not come down to Re 1 – as compared to R3, Dii has come down from Rs 11.6 to Rs 7.2. Broadcasters have always faced huge challenges towards drawing benchmarks and rationalising of carriage fee spends which continue to hound them- therefore Chrome Dii R4, the objective of which is to simply facilitate business planning on the back of content affinity, market segmentation and industry benchmarks – the key to optimise distribution investments. Having run a channel myself, I understand the importance of access to key information – The Distribution Investments Index leaves no room for ambiguity in carriage fee investment decisions across every possible carriage fee deal”

    Chrome Dii, has been worked out on basis of the deals done by broadcasters over the last one year, with information gathered from across various sources including broadcasters as well as distribution platforms. After eliminating high variance deals, an average of six solo deals per cable network were studied for their investments for S band and UHF. For the digital scenario, Chrome Dii indicates a benchmark carriage to be available on the Basic Tier i.e. channels under BST (Mandated FTA channels) along with the first tier of pay channels. The study is inclusive of both new launches/new deals done in the last one year and existing deals expiring in January/April 2014.

    Chrome Dii R4 reveals that north India emerged as the costliest region with a whopping Rs 13.63 crore (Dii R3  Rs 16.7 crore) for a 100 per cent availability across Basic + S band for new launches and  Rs 10.43 crore (Dii R3  Rs13.3 crore) for renewals of existing deals whereas central India was the lowest with Rs 1.62 crore (Dii R3  Rs 3.11 crore) and Rs 1.27 crore (Dii R3   Rs 2.73 crore) for Basic + S band for new launches and renewing existing deals,  respectively.

    Chrome Dii R4, which this year was pre-subscribed by 11 leading TV networks, also reveals that if the Dii (cost per contact for the Television channels) is studied, the data shows the cost (renewals, S-band) per contact (household) is the highest in west India with an average of  11.1 followed by the north and central India at 8. The national average for renewals stands at 7.2.

    Some interesting facts according to Chrome Dii R4 –

    1.To cite an example as per the above data, comparing how much a Hindi News channel would spend for a 75% HSM availability as per Dii R4 as compared to Dii R3 – it would pay 75% of (23.37 minus 3.89) = Rs. 14.61 Crores as per Dii R4 whereas it would have paid Rs. 19.57 Crores as per Dii R3 – a saving of over 26%! But has the overall pie reduced, not really! As there has been an increase in network bandwidth, hence the number of takers has increased.

    2.Out of a total universe of 47mn C&S HHs in Class I India, Chrome Dii study tracks 38mn homes and balance 9mn are DTH (approx)

    3.North emerged as the costliest region with Rs. 13.63 Crores for 100% availability across Basic + S Band and Rs. 10.81 Crores for 100% availability across Basic + UHF for New Launches. Renewals of existing deals for Rs. 10.43 Crores for Basic + S Band and Rs. 8.54 Crores for Basic + UHF.

    4.    The study also provides a benchmark for carriage fee efficiency w.r.to the Investment indices i.e. Chrome Dii i.e. Cost per Contact. Chrome reveals that the Dii (renewals, S-band, household) is the highest in West India with an average of Rs 11.1 followed by the North & Central at Rs 8. The national average for renewals stands at Rs 7.2 

    5.    In terms of highest Chrome Dii, West was followed by North, Central, East and South.

    R4

    R3

    6.The gap between Dii for Existing and New Launches has reduced over the years owing to digitization and increase in bandwidth of the networks.

    7.Further, the gap between Dii for S Band and UHF has also reduced due to digitization

    8.Chrome Dii for a New Launch in Central and East India has halved. 

    9.Top 8 deals as per Chrome Dii R4 – (ranging upto 3 Cr )

    a.DEN UP CORPORATE DEAL

    b.FASTWAY PUNJAB COPORATE DEAL

    c.GTPL AHMEDABAD CORPORATE DEAL

    d.HATHWAY CENTRAL CORPORATE DEAL

    e.DEN NORTH CORPORATE DEAL

    f.SCV CHENNAI DEAL

    g.IN CABLE CENTRAL CORPORATE DEAL

    h.HATHWAY BANGALORE CORPORATE DEAL

    10.Most expensive Deals – Cost per contact (MSOs) –  (ranging 18 to 42 against a national average of 7.2 )

    a.All in Consultant UP Deal

    b.Hathway CG Corporate Deal

    c.DEN Mumbai Satellite Deal

    11.Most expensive Deal (Independents)(maybe owning to the posh locality it caters to)

    a.7 Star Juhu (West Region)

    12.Regional MSOs garner higher CPC – E.g Asianet in South region, Fastway in North region

    13.DEN commands the highest Dii amongst National MSOs, followed by Digi Cable and GTPL

  • JAINHITS reaches out to LCOs from HP, Punjab & Haryana

    JAINHITS reaches out to LCOs from HP, Punjab & Haryana

    NEW DELHI: More than 150 local cable operators (LCOs) from Himachal Pradesh, Haryana and Punjab attended a tri-state business meet organised by JAINHITS in Simla. The meeting aimed at explaining to the LCOs, the working of the satellite based solution for digitisation of cable services.

     

    Earlier this year, JAINHITS had also organised a similar meet in Andhra Pradesh which was attended by around 625 LCOs.

     

    At the meet, senior members of JAINHITS briefed cable operators about its services and offerings. The HITS player also provided cost effective solutions to LCOs for running fully DAS compliant digital cable TV services. During this interactive meet, the LCOs were interested to know more on the entire spectrum of consumer products and services that will be provided by JAINHITS such as high speed, cloud and hybrid broadband TV (HBB TV).

     

    While the number of channels being offered by the company stands at 250 including all major pay TV, JAINHITS will soon roll out its full HD and multi-screen services for consumers. The key proposition of the HITS platform is its cost-effective investment for cable operators which stands at a minimum of only Rs 25,000 per month. With this, they expect to do business with 400 plus partners and install over 3000 Mini Downlink Headend’s across 640 districts of India by the end of 2014.

     

    Cable Operators Federation of India (COFI) president Roop Sharma expressed surprise at the overwhelming response. She said JAINHITS provides instant digitisation solution to cable operators with minimal investments and thus stands to play a pivotal role in the digitisation of all analogue networks with its triple play offering of video, voice and data. “Not only do they possess the content but have managed to attain all necessary approvals required for supplying cable TV and broadband to consumers,” Sharma said. 

     

    JAINHITS national sales head Jeet Narayan Singh said, “We believe that conducting these joint meetings in key cities and states across the country is of great significance. It is these sub urban regions that need to be tapped and facilitated with superior TV products and services. In our business, we have always stressed upon converting these cable operators into a ‘Leader & Cable Owner’ and an independent service entity. We feel that this approach creates room for greater involvement thereby increasing their participation in the entire digitisation process. If we are able to maintain this kind of momentum, we would soon be looking at serving half million subscriber base each in Himachal Pradesh, Punjab and Haryana.”

     

    Gem Enterprises partner Surinder Surya said, “One of the key propositions that allows cable operators to retain business control and simultaneously magnify its growth, is the HITS players’ instant zero capital solution for digitisation. Not only this, JAINHITS stands apart from any competition as it is the only and ideal choice to experience uninterrupted services in regions with severe climatic conditions.”

      

    JAINHITS has partnered with some of the leading technology outfits such as Motorola (now ARRIS) and Intelsat – as its satellite partner. The key proposition of the JAINHITS platform is centered around the conversion of LCO to MSO with minimum cost while providing all end to end solutions for digital cable and broadband services.

  • Bengaluru MSOs, ISPs to cough up Rs 300 crore as 15-year fee for cables laid

    Bengaluru MSOs, ISPs to cough up Rs 300 crore as 15-year fee for cables laid

    MUMBAI: The Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) will soon have Rs 3 billion in its kitty. And how? The municipal corporation has after deliberations for over two months come out with a fee structure for laying of cables across the city by multi-system cable TV operators (MSOs) and internet service providers (ISPs).

     

    According to BBMP, MSOs and ISPs in the city have laid at least 15,000 km of cables. The move to levy a fee is to not only generate revenue, but also to ensure that the roads remain clean.

     

    MSOs and ISPs have to pay upfront Rs 200 per meter for three cable ducts as fee for a period of 15 years. In addition, MSOs and ISPs will have to pay Rs 100 per meter for every additional duct they use.

     

    Local cable operators (LCOs) have been exempted from paying a fee for laying cables.

     

    According to an official with a Bengaluru-based MSO, the BBMP has asked the 30 MSOs operating in the city to submit a letter accepting the terms and conditions set by the municipal corporation for laying cables. “This letter needs to be sent on an immediate basis. Those who accept the terms can then be permitted for underground cabling,” the MSO official says.

     

    The MSOs and ISPs which have already laid underground optical fibre cable (OFC), will in the next 3 months have to submit details of their underground cabling to the BBMP. On failure to provide details of cables already laid, the BBMP can either remove the OFC or can auction it.

     

    “If the operators fail to submit details, the property will no longer belong to them,” the MSO official explains.

     

    BBMP has also given three months to MSOs and ISPs to declare all uncleared OFC and pay a penalty at the rate of Rs 200 per meter in addition to the Rs 200 per meter per three ducts payable for a period of 15 years.

     

    The MSOs and ISPs have also been asked to conduct third-party inspections of repairs done to roads damaged due to underground laying of cables. “This has to be done at the company’s cost,” he informs.  Operators also have to pay Rs 100 per meter of cable laid as supervision charge to the BBMP.