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Tag: MIB

  • Reliance Jio Media on track for Phase 1 of cable TV rollout between Jan – Mar 2016

    Reliance Jio Media on track for Phase 1 of cable TV rollout between Jan – Mar 2016

    MUMBAI: Reliance Jio Media, which acquired a pan-India multi system operator (MSO) licence from the Ministry of Information & Broadcasting (MIB) in June this year, is on track for the roll out of its cable television business across digital addressable system (DAS) in Phase 3 areas.

     

    Calling a recent report published as “misleading,” which stated that the company is going to  focus more on 4G and broadband,  as compared to digital television and distribution, a senior Reliance Jio official tells Indiantelevision.com, “MSO business is an integral part of our services and we are as focussed on it as we were from the very beginning.”

     

    Reliance Jio Media has already shortlisted the cities for the first round of MSO rollout. “We will start with 15 cities initially and eventually will reach out to more than 100 cities over the next three years. The first round of launch will take place anytime between January to March 2016,” the official informs.

     

    The MSO will offer both standard definiion (SD) and high definition (HD – incluing Ultra HD)  services to garner high average revenue per user (ARPU). “We will follow a model, which is sustainable in the long run. Having all the viewing experiences for consumers is an important factor and we won’t compromise with that,” added the official.

     

    “Headends, technological partnerships and other infrastructure deals have already been sealed with a few vendors and we will have everything sorted out before 31 December. We are in conversation with several LCOs for both broadband and cable partnerships. Post Diwali we will have the final round of discussion with LCOs for digital cable business,” said the official.

     

    Reliance Jio CEO K Jayaraman leads the company’s MSO business.

     

    A source from the industry opined, “The team that they’ve got in place has the muscle power to deal with any situation. I don’t think there is any lacklustre attitude towards the MSO business from the conglomerate.”

     

    Another senior official from a technological giant, on condition of anonymity said, “We have been working closely with Reliance Jio creating different products for them. We are actively pursuing our partnerships and have no information of a slow down or postponement of launch of distribution of cable TV.”

  • MIB asks stakeholders for details of DAS public awareness campaigns

    MIB asks stakeholders for details of DAS public awareness campaigns

    NEW DELHI: All broadcasters, multi system operators (MSOs) and cable operators have been asked by the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (MIB) to send details of the public awareness campaign being carried out by them about the third phase of digital addressable system (DAS) and the need for having a set top box (STB) in every television home.

     

    The stakeholders have been asked by MIB Joint Secretary (Broadcasting) R Jaya to send this information within 15 days along with documentary proof.

     

    Stressing that every TV home has to have an STB, she said it was essential that MSOs and cable operators carry only digital encrypted signals after 31 December this year.

     

    At the outset, she said that since the cut-off date was very near, it was presumed that broadcasters, MSOs and LCOs had already done their bit.

     

    Under Section 44 of the Cable Television Networks (Regulation) Act 1995 and the Rules framed there-under, the centre had notified phased implementation of DAS in the country by the cable operators.

     

    Phases I and ll of cable digitisation had been completed and Phase lll of digitisation, which will cover all the remaining urban areas in the country was scheduled for completion by 31 December this year, while rural areas would be covered in phase lV to be completed by 31 December, 2016.

     

    Jaya said that the public must be aware that they require a STB before the cutoff date and drew attention to the provision under Rule 12 of the Rules, which states, “Every Broadcaster, MSO and LCO shall create public awareness among, and provide information to, the subscribers in the notified areas from a period at least thirty days prior to the date such areas are notified either through advertisements in the print and electronic media or through such other means including leaflets, printing on the reverse of website, the receipts, personal visits, group meetings with subscribers or consumer groups. This should contain the salient features of DAS.”

  • DAS Phase III: Only 62 MSOs sent requests for agreements with b’casters even as deadline looms

    DAS Phase III: Only 62 MSOs sent requests for agreements with b’casters even as deadline looms

    NEW DELHI: Even as the deadline for completing the third phase of Digital Addressable System (DAS) appears to be hovering over, only 62 multi system operators (MSOs) have so far approached broadcasters for finalising inter connect agreements.

     

    The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (MIB) today again asked all registered MSOs to immediately send their requests to broadcasters for interconnection agreements on channels in Phase lll areas.

     

    In case broadcasters do not respond to their requests, the MSOs have been asked to inform the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) immediately in this regard, with a copy to the MIB.

     

    It was pointed out that the Ministry had, by an email of 6 April this year, advised all MSOs to send the copies of their communication with broadcasters regarding RlOs to TRAI for intervention.

     

    But “it appears that some MSOs have either not approached broadcasters for channels or have not informed TRAl about their problem,” MIB said in its advisory.

     

    According to Chapter ll of the Interconnection (Digital Addressable Cable System) Regulations 2012 issued by TRAI, MSO are required to send a request to the broadcasters for TV channels in DAS areas and on their requests broadcasters are required to send their Reference Interconnect Offer (RlO) to them within 60 days of receipt of such requests.

     

    MSOs operating or planning to operate in Phase lll areas should have by now entered into interconnection agreements with the broadcasters, but the Ministry said “it is given to understand from the periodical reports submitted by the broadcasters to TRAI that only 62 MSOs have so far approached them for interconnection agreements for TV channels for phase lll areas.”

  • MIB updates areas in 16 states & UTs to be covered in DAS Phase III

    MIB updates areas in 16 states & UTs to be covered in DAS Phase III

    NEW DELHI: The Ministry of Information & Broadcasting (MIB) today updated the urban areas to be covered in 16 states during Phase III of the Digital Addressable System (DAS), which is to be completed by the end of this year.

     

    These states and union territories are: Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Gujarat, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Jharkhand, Mizoram, Nagaland, Odisha, Rajasthan, Punjab, Tripura, Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Andaman and Nicobar, and Puducherry.

     

    The ministry also indicated the areas that have been deleted and those which have been added, apart from the number of television households to be covered in each case. Deletions have been made on the basis of reports of empowered officers in each state.

     

    This list does not contain areas covered in the first two phases.

     

    The list of areas to be covered in Phase III had been issued on 30 April this year.

  • MIB extends FM Radio migration fee submission date to 27 October

    MIB extends FM Radio migration fee submission date to 27 October

    NEW DELHI: The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (MIB) has yet again extended the date of submitting the total migration fees for existing operators of Phase II FM Radio wanting to migrate to Phase III to 27 October.

     

    Earlier, those wanting to migrate had been told that they could pay 25 per cent of the non-refundable one-time entry fee (NOTMF) by 5 October and the balance by 15 October.

     

    Accepting another demand by Phase II FM operators for extension of time, the MIB once again said the option of migration only applied to Phase II operators and not Phase I operators.

     

    Meanwhile, the Ministry has assured the Courts that FM channels whose petitions are pending before courts would be given the chance to migrate in case they succeeded in their pleas. This includes some channels of the Sun Group of companies.

     

    Earlier on 29 September, it had said that the migration fee had been fixed according to the recommendations of the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) of 20 February this year.

     

    Each channel in Mumbai, which falls under the ‘A’ plus category will have to pay Rs 36.69 crore to the Ministry while each channel from category ‘D’ city- Aizawl will have to shell out Rs 0.12 crore.

     

    This means that from Mumbai, the Ministry will receive a total of approximately Rs 256.83 crore, considering there are seven stations – Radio City, Red FM, Fever FM, Big FM, Radio One, Radio Mirchi and Oye FM.

     

    The second highest pay-out will come from New Delhi, which will pay Rs 33.33 crore per channel, which means that all the stations together will contribute about Rs 266.64 crore.

     

  • FTII students expected to meet MIB MoS Rajyavardhan Rathore

    FTII students expected to meet MIB MoS Rajyavardhan Rathore

    NEW DELHI: A meeting of the student leaders of Film and Television Institute of India (FTII) with Minister of State for Information & Broadcasting (I&B) Rajyavardhan Rathore will be convened in the near future, according to information given to students today.

     

    The meeting is likely to be in Delhi, though no date has been fixed. Further discussions would depend on the outcome of this meeting, I&B sources told Indiantelevision.com.

     

    I&B secretary Sunil Arora, in a brief second round of discussions with the students in Mumbai took their opinion on proposals to make FTII an institution of excellence.

     

    The Ministry was represented by Joint Secretary (Films) Sanjay Murthy, Films Division director general Mukesh Sharma, FTII director Prashant Pathrabe and FTII eegistrar U C Bodke. The Students’ Association was represented by seven members and Aruna Raje Patil of GRAFTII.

     

    In the earlier round of negotiations with the FTII student leaders on 7 October, the Mukesh Sharma Committee had been set up to look into the issues of operational flexibility and procurement of equipment for FTII.  

  • MIB to examine FTII demand for greater financial powers

    MIB to examine FTII demand for greater financial powers

    NEW DELHI: The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (MIB) has agreed to examine a demand for an enhanced delegation of financial powers and flexibility in purchase of hardware etc to the Film and Television Institute of India (FTII) in order to enable the students to do their creative work.

     

    Films Division director general Mukesh Sharma has been asked to study the demand and give his report within a fortnight.

     

    Following the end of the strike by FTII students after an assurance of meeting the MIB officials, a meeting was held in Mumbai today between representatives of FTII Students Association and the Ministry team headed by MIB secretary Sunil Arora.

     

    The students, under the coordination of Aruna Raje, who represented GRAFTII – a body of alumni of the institute – will submit a blue print within a fortnight for turning FTII into an institute of national excellence at par with reputed institutions across the world.

     

    The Ministry has already announced its intentions in this regard, but the students were told that their views would form a major input for taking this matter forward. 

     

    A second round of talks will be held with the Ministry delegation on 10 October in Mumbai. A request would also be made to MIB Minister of State Rajyavardhan Rathore to meet the students in Delhi in the near future.

     

    Apart from the Secretary, the Ministry was represented by Joint Secretary (Films) K Sanjay Murthy; Films Division director general Mukesh Sharma; FTII director Prashant Pathrabe and FTII registrar U C Bodke.

     

    The FTII Students’ Association was represented by Harishankar Nachimuthu, Ajayan Adat, Vikas Urs, Reema Kaur, Malayaj Awasthi, Ranjeet Nair and Shini J K.

  • MIB issues 27 new provisional and 3 permanent MSO licenses post August

    MIB issues 27 new provisional and 3 permanent MSO licenses post August

    NEW DELHI: With the deadline of the third phase of digital addressable system (DAS) less than three months away, the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (MIB) has issued 27 new provisional licenses and three permanent licenses for multi system operators (MSOs) across India to operate in the DAS areas.

     

    The new entrants are: (1) Manthan Broadband Services Pvt Ltd, which got the permanent licence for Kolkata Metropolitan under Phase I, for Howrah under Phase II and for Ranchi and all cities/towns in India under Phase III, (2) Saptak Digital, which received permanent licence for the entire West Bengal region, and (3) Shirdi Sai Digital Network for Andhra Pradesh and Telangana under Phase III & IV.

     

    With this, the total number of MSOs that have obtained licences for DAS as on 30 September has gone up to 399.

     

    According to the last list issued on 14 August, the Ministry had registered a total of 349 MSOs, of which 126 were provisional.

     

    Of these 399 MSOs that have received licences for DAS, 226 have 10-year licences, while 173 are provisional since the MIB has still not received any formal communication of the Home Ministry’s decision to do away with security clearances for MSOs.

     

    As of now, four MSOs – Kal Cables of Chennai, Digi Cable Network Pvt Ltd, Scod 18 Networking Pvt Ltd and SR Cable TV Pvt. Ltd. remain on the cancellation list.

     

    Additionally, 11 MSOs, which had earlier been granted permanent licences were permitted to change their areas of operation

  • MIB cancels tripartite agreements in DTH sector for loan assistance

    MIB cancels tripartite agreements in DTH sector for loan assistance

    NEW DELHI: The Government today cancelled the provision for tripartite agreements to provide loans to Indian direct-to-home (DTH) operators.

     

    According to the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (MIB), the provision had been made for financial loan and assistance in the DTH sector by assigning licence agreement as security to banks as well as financial institutions.

     

    This was to be done in the form of a tripartite agreement with the bank or financial institution, the operator and the government.

     

    An order to this effect had been issued by the Ministry on 3 December, 2009.

     

    The order has now come into immediate effect. 

  • Adcap case to be heard on 27 November, Court informed matter under discussion with MIB

    Adcap case to be heard on 27 November, Court informed matter under discussion with MIB

    NEW DELHI: The challenge to the advertising cap of 12 minutes per hour by the News Broadcasters Association (NBA) and others in the Delhi High Court will be heard on 27 November.
     

    The NBA sought the adjournment on the ground that the matter was under discussion with the Information and Broadcasting (I&B) Ministry to seek certain clarifications. On 8 September,  the matter was adjourned on the same plea.
     

    According to information available with Indiantelevision.com, this comes in the wake of a statement made by I&B Minister Arun Jaitley in January this year that there should be no ad cap in the print or electronic media. However, it is also learnt that Jaitley has given no such instructions in any order in the Ministry.
      

    The order that the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) will not take any action against any channel pending the petition will continue. In an earlier hearing, the Court had, at the regulator’s instance, directed that all channels keep a record of the advertisements run by them.

      
    The NBA had challenged the ad cap rule, contending that TRAI does not have jurisdiction to regulate commercial airtime on television channels.
     

    Apart from the NBA, the petition has been filed by Sarthak Entertainment, Pioneer Channel Factory, E24 Glamoru, Sun TV Network, TV Vision, B4U Broadband, 9X Media, Kalaignar, Celebrities Management, Eanadu Television and Raj Television.
     

    The news and regional broadcasters fear that the capping of commercial airtime will curtail their ad revenues. They also argue that the ad cap must be brought only after the benefits of cable TV digitisation start showing. 

     
    Meanwhile, TRAI recently released results of their records, which show that around 36 news channels apart from 105 general entertainment channels (GECs) are violating the ad cap by telecasting ads for more than 12 minutes an hour.