ITV

Tag: MSO registration

  • MIB proposes to introduce policy guidelines for renewal of registered MSO and HITS operators

    MIB proposes to introduce policy guidelines for renewal of registered MSO and HITS operators

    Mumbai: The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) on Wednesday issued a consultation paper on the renewal of multi-system operators (MSOs) registration.

    The ministry of information and broadcasting (MIB) sent a reference to the telecom regulator seeking recommendations on issues pertaining to the MSO renewal procedure. As per the letter, MIB stated that the policy guidelines for uplinking/downlinking of channels prescribe ten years as the permission period. The renewal period is also mentioned as ten years. In the direct-to-home (DTH) sector, the guidelines mention the licence validity for a period of twenty years, renewable by ten years at a time.

    MIB said, “To maintain uniformity with the DTH and broadcasting sector and considering the validity of security clearance, MIB has proposed to keep the renewal period of MSO registration after every ten years.”

    MIB also noted that, at present, there is no provision for renewal in the existing guidelines for registration for headend-in-the-sky (HITS) services. It said that Trai may initiate a separate consultation for the renewal of HITS services.

    The consultation paper seeks the comments of stakeholders on relevant issues pertaining to the renewal of MSO registration, including the quantum fee to be paid for such renewal.

    The key issues addressed in the consultation paper are:1) what should be the qualifying conditions, if any, to be prescribed for MSO renewal? 2) list of required compliances for MSO registration renewal 3) Renewing period 4) Should a one-time fee be charged at the time of renewal? 5) Should there be a window to apply for renewal before the expiry of MSO registration? 6) provision to ensure continuity of service to consumers on the expiry of registration.

    Background

    The cable TV industry in India commenced as an unregulated service in the late 1980s. The services were driven by the need of customers for alternative entertainment options to Doordarshan. This sector saw exponential growth with the launch of channels such as Star TV and Zee TV in 1992. As more local cable operators mushroomed across the country, a need arose to regulate the service, leading to the promulgation of Cable Television Networks, Rules, 1995.

    Trai brought the broadcasting and cable services under the ambit of Trai in 2004, which ensured orderly growth of the sector while protecting the interests of consumers. According to EY, India is the second largest pay TV market after China, with 197 million TV households growing at a 7.5 per cent year on year rate.

    Pay TV services are primarily delivered through cable TV and direct-to-home (DTH) systems. Other modes of transmission, such as Internet Protocol TV (IPTV) and headend-in-the-sky (HITS), have a smaller subscriber base.

    The Cable Television Networks (Regulation) Act, 1995, formalised the cable TV sector in India but resulted in operational challenges for local cable operators (LCOs) who did not have sophisticated equipment or resources to receive broadcast signals from large numbers of satellites before sending them to their subscribers.

    This led to the launch of MSOs who received the signals of different television channels, combined them and transmitted this combined feed to multiple LCOs. The MSOs were the middle men in the hierarchy of the cable services sector, between the broadcasters on one hand and local cable operators on the other.

    The MSOs established head-ends in metros and major towns to receive TV signals from different TV broadcasters, aggregate and distribute these signals to LCOs, who further transmit them to subscribers through cables. In some instances, MSOs also provide the services directly to their consumers.

    The evolution of technology paved the way for the digitization of the cable TV sector. With the introduction of the digital addressable system (DAS), the government amended the Cable Television Networks Rules, 1994 by issuing the Cable Television Networks (Amendment) Rules, 2012.

    As per the amended rules, MSOs operating in DAS areas are required to obtain the necessary permission from MIB in addition to registration as a cable operator. As per MIB, the number of MSOs has grown from 29 in 2012 to 1762 in March 2022, as per MIB.
     

  • MIB directs erring MSOs to immediately furnish seeding data

    MIB directs erring MSOs to immediately furnish seeding data

    Mumbai: The ministry of information and broadcasting (MIB) has directed erring Multi System Operators (MSOs) to immediately enter/update their seeding data on the ministry’s MIS (Management Information System).

    As per the official advisory dated 21 February, despite repeated reminders, many MSOs are not entering/updating their seeding data, i.e the number of active set-top boxes on their network, on the ministry’s MIS. The information regarding the number of cable TV subscribers is considered essential for policy decisions/regulatory issues etc, it said.

    It was further stated that failure to submit/update seeding data on MIS will be considered a violation of Rule 10A of the Cable Television Networks Rules 1994 and may result in cancellation/suspension of MSO registration granted

    Rule 10A of the Cable Television Networks Rules 1994, binds, inter-alia, every MSO to give such information as may be sought for by, inter-alia, the central government within such period and such form as may be specified.

  • DAS: Total registered MSOs touches 349, of which 126 are provisional

    DAS: Total registered MSOs touches 349, of which 126 are provisional

    NEW DELHI: Although there are less than six months left for the completion of Phase III of Digital Addressable System (DAS) for cable television and while the Home Ministry is planning to do away with security clearance, the number of multi-system operators (MSOs) who have been given permanent registration for a period of ten years is just 349.
     
    In addition, a total of 126 MSOs have been given provisional registration. According to the last list dated 12 July, 2015 the licences of 29 MSOs had been cancelled or their files were closed.
     
    However, this figure is impressive considering that 74 new MSOs have been permitted to operate since 12 July, though a majority of them have provisional licences.
     
    While a majority of MSOs including Kal Cables have had their licences cancelled following the Home Ministry denying security clearance, some have been cancelled for non-operation. These include four cancelled in 2015.
     
    MSOs given permanent registration pan India after 12 July include Swamy Cable Network of Ahmednagar in Maharashtra for districts of Ahmednagar, Nashik 
    and Aurangabad in Maharashtra; National Cable TV Nilgiris for Gudalur, Pandalur, Ooty, Coonoor, and Kotagiri Talukas in Niligiris District; ACN Cable Pvt Ltd of Bangalore for areas of Nellore Urban and Nellore rural Mandals; Tyagi Cable Network of Budhana for Bagpat, Muzaffarnagar, Shamli and Meerut districts in Uttar Pradesh; and Valarr Gokulum of Coimbatore for District of Coimbatore, Nilgiri and Tiruppur in Tamil Nadu. 
     
    Eleven MSOs who had earlier been granted permanent licences were permitted to change their areas of operation.
      
    Provisional licences given after 12 July total 61 including one for Assam and another for Mizoram. Provisional licence had been issued prior to12 July to one MSO in Kashmir. 
     
    A majority of provisional MSOs may be made permanent when the Home Ministry begins implementing its plan for doing away with the security clearance clause for MSOs.
  • Date extended for MSO registration for DAS phase III

    Date extended for MSO registration for DAS phase III

    NEW DELHI: Following an assurance in the last Task Force meeting, the Government has extended till 6 February the last date for multi-system operators for registration for Phase III of digital addressable systems (DAS) for cable television.
     
    The earlier date was 21 December.
     
    The Ministry noted that Cable TV digitisation in remaining urban areas not covered in phases I and II is slated for completion by 1 December 2O15.
     
    Cable TV Digitisation Security clearance from the Home Ministry – a prerequisite for permanent registration – takes about three to four months.
     
    The extension is being given as MSOs complained at the last meeting of the Task Force for phase III that they needed sufficient time to operationalise their digital set ups after the issue of the registration.

     

    Speaking at the task force meeting last week, several stakeholders also wanted online registration for MSOs wanting to enter their names for phase III.
    Information and Broadcasting Ministry Additional Secretary J S Mathur, who chaired the meeting, also said that meetings were being organised between manufacturers of indigenous set top boxes and the Ministry of Information and Technology.

     

    Mathur responding to queries from some MSO’s wanted them to prepare a list of areas in phase III which were currently not being reached by cable television. A member had pointed out that a Headend In The Sky (HITS) platform could be used in such areas.