ITV

Tag: MSOs

  • Landing page a promotional tool, works only for a finite period, says Chrome DM CEO

    In the television news ecosystem, the latest battle that has burst out is that of landing pages on distribution platforms such as DTH and cable TV operators being hijacked by older rivals for promotional feeds. Chrome DM founder and CEO Pankaj Krishna spoke to indiantelevision.com (excerpts):

     

    After Dual LCNs, channels taking over landing pages seems to be the latest trend. Your take?

    If you look at historical trends, broadcasters have been actively using landing pages to garner trials and thereby viewership for years together. The idea was that higher the availability, the greater the chances that the channel would attract repeat viewing. Until about a year back, MSOs had been monetising landing pages as a source of additional revenue stream by running promos and commercials. But broadcasters taking over landing pages in totality had actually started as a deal between a major broadcaster and a big MSO, and was quickly replicated by others.

    In more recent times however, it is the media coverage of the competition in the English News genre which has actually brought it to the forefront.  

    What we have also seen is that there seems to be an effort to achieve Dual LCN through the surrogate route of being present on the landing page, and then again at the channel’s usual point of placement. I would also like to add that, strictly speaking, a channel’s mere presence on the landing page does not automatically denote it being present on Dual LCNs. In other words, all landing pages do not constitute dual LCN.

    How does taking over a landing page increase viewership?

    According to Chrome OAP, when you switch on your TV, it takes an average time of 43 seconds to arrive at the desired programme or the channel, thus potentially adding to the landing page’s viewership under the present ratings system.

    In terms of trends, where is the landing page phenomena going/headed?

    According to the Chrome Landing Page Report (LPR), in Week 22 between 27th May and 2nd June, the Teleshopping genre has the highest instances of landing pages at 178 counts, followed by Hindi GEC and English News.

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    Source: Chrome LPR, Wk-22 (27th May to 2nd June)

    If you compare this data with data from the past few weeks, I am glad that there has been a considerable fall in the number of landing pages across genre s. Furthermore, if we examine data region-wise, compared to metro cities, the landing pages have been most visible in smaller market segments. For example, UP with a 1-10 lakh population segment has witnessed maximum instances of landing pages followed by Maharashtra and Goa. Interestingly, Kerala in its 10-75 lakh market category had the third largest number of headends with instances of landing pages. If we go a step further and make a content-wise assessment, it is teleshopping which emerges as the top genre with instances of landing pages followed by Hindi GEC and English News. Yet the over-all trend seems somewhat inconsistent in view of the fact that the landing pages on channels for kids had shot up almost three times in the 22nd week before taking a drastic plunge in the third week. Moreover,

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    Telugu channels have been relatively flat through the three weeks.

     

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    Source: Chrome LPR, Wk-22 (27th May to 2nd June)

    But, wouldn’t MSOs be the bigger beneficiaries here?

    It is certainly an additional source of revenue generation for the MSOs considering that the landing page is priced on the higher side. For broadcasters on the other hand, they get to increase their viewership as well as the OTS (Opportunity-to-see). Based on a back-of-the-envelope calculation, on DTH platforms, it could run into almost Rs. one crore a day!

    How ethical is it to resort to landing pages to increase viewership?

    From the broadcaster’s standpoint, the concept of landing page as of now is open-ended. Otherwise, this would amount to a clear distortion of market stemming from exorbitant biddings offered to Multi system operators (MSOs) and the DTH Operators, who control landing pages.

    Given the tricky nature of the subject, it’s a matter of subjectivity and only the designated regulators can take a call, one way or another. I would say that taking over landing pages to boost viewership should not be used as it would force others to follow suit thus eventually triggering a bidding war.

    As a matter of fact, landing page is a promotional tool which works only when it is utilised for a finite period. If allotted to broadcasters, it would make no sense as it would amount to converting a neutral advertorial space to a full-time channel effectively, unfair for the rest of the competition.

     

  • Indian English news channels boycott BARC’s viewership monitoring

    MUMBAI: In a coordinated move, the English TV channel news members of the News Broadcasters Association (NBA) have decided to pull out of Indian viewership ratings monitor Broadcast Audience Research Council (BARC). As of 7 pm today – India Today, Times Now, News X, CNN News19, and NDTV 24×7 – have stopped inserting the BARC water mark in their TV signals from their studios.

    This follows BARC CEO Partho Dasgupta’s decision to publish Republic TV’s viewership data today despite the NBA urging it to refrain from doing so on account of the members’ belief that it had allegedly resorted to massive multi LCN placement of the channel on various MSOs/DPOs and cable TV networks nationally.

    The latest viewership data showed that Republic TV had gone on to capture more than 52 per cent of the viewership.

    The five channels have stated that they have written to BARC in the past about the alleged abuse and tampering of its monitoring methodology and have received a standard response which has been almost indifference to their concerns. And the snub by the ratings agency this morning was the last straw, hence they decided to pull out of the watermarking.

    Sources state that the five channels would like an assurance from BARC that it will only report the data after Republic TV stops allegedly messing around by placing itself in multiple genres and LCNs.

    Additionally, they would like an assurance from the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) that the MSOs and DPOs have totally cleaned up their acts and placed Republic TV only in one genre and LCN.

    As the five will not be part of the monitoring from BARC, its next week’s report could end up showing that Republic TV has maximum viewership of the Indian English news genre with international news channels such as BBC, CNN and Al jazeera also picking up. (Updated on 19 May 2017 at 3 pm)

    Indiantelevision.com placed a call to the BARC spokesperson but received no response at the time of writing.

    Questions that arise from this fracas around the ratings and the news channels boycott: How long will this faceoff continue? Will BARC blink first? What currency will advertisers use to decide on which shows and channels to advertise on in the English news genres? Why does it seem like déjà vu? Did the industry err by backing BARC and pulling the shutters down on TAM’s viewership ratings? Will the TRAI or MIB now step in to ensure that some sanity comes into the news channel business (many dread this)? Or will BARC step back and heed the request of the members of the NBA?

  • DAS: MSOs, LCOs give low figure of STB seeding, official sources admit it’s under 80%

    DAS: MSOs, LCOs give low figure of STB seeding, official sources admit it’s under 80%

    NEW DELHI / MUMBAI: Even as the nation has stepped into an era of full cable television digitisation, there are mixed reports coming in from around the country about the situation on the ground.

    While the government had issued a warning to all broadcasters, multi-system and local cable operators about action if they fail to switch off analogue, there are reports from almost every region that Phase IV covering rural India has still a long way to go before full implementation of digital addressable system happens.

    The Government had, in mid-January, told the Task Force that while the seeding of set-top boxes in Phase III was almost complete, the figure for Phase IV was 32 per cent. Minister of state for information and broadcasting Rajyavardhan Rathore told the Parliament in mid-March that around 67 per cent seeding of set-top boxes had been achieved in Phase III and IV while it was total in the first two phases, minus Tamil Nadu.

    A ministry source told indiantelevision.com that the figure had already crossed around 75 per cent in the final two phases. Not wanting to be named, the source ruled out any more grace period, and said that several MSOs and LCOs act only after a final warning, and therefore the chances were that the figure may be higher than those given by him.

    However, since there is no plan to help the poor acquire STBs, it is unlikely that the figure would be much higher.

    In Tamil Nadu, where there is a court stay in operation since Phase I, the state government run Arasu Cable TV Corporation (TACTV) warned MSOs and LCOs against switching off analogue signals anywhere in the state after 31 March 2017.

    Pointing out that the centre had refused to grant DAS licence to TACTV because recommendations of the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India do not permit state-owned TV or distribution networks, an MSO told indiantelevision.com that the case had been gong on for so many years primarily because the Central Government was not clearabout its stand and keeps taking adjournments.

    Meanwhile, in neighbouring Telangana and Andhra Pradesh, MSOs and LCOs said that around 40 per cent of Phase III had still to be fully seeded and the figure was bound to be higher in Phase IV areas. One MSO not wanting to be named said that there was an area in Hyderabad dominated by a particular community where even law had limited reach where analogue signals continued unchecked. “Whatever had been fixed a long time ago, remains,” the MSO said.

    Interestingly, a consumer body Citizens Welfare Society had moved the High Court for the twin states saying that, while the government had made it mandatory that DAS signals should be implemented, there was nothing in law to say that analogue has to be switched off and pleading that the two should be allowed to co-exist till people take to DAS voluntarily. Though the case was not admitted, the bench of the Court heard the viewpoints of several MSOs, LCOs, and consumer bodies over twenty hours for the few days and reserved its orders on 20 February 2017. This order is still awaited keenly by consumers as well as MSOs and LCOs.

    Siti Network Limited (Essel Group) executive director & CEO V D Wadhwa said that analogue signals had been switched off in the East Zone. Network 18/Viacom18 Group distributor Indiacast Media Group CEO (and Jio Media head – content acquisition/ alliances) Anuj Gandhi also said that analogue had been switched off in compliance with the deadline set by the Government. However, sources said that completely shutting off analogue signals in other zones may be a challenge.

    Meanwhile, an MSO in Assam said that while digitisation was complete in Guwahati, it had not even covered fifty per cent of rural Assam. In Madhya Pradesh and Chhatisgarh, MSOs and LCOs interviewed said around 40 per cent seeding had taken place in Phase IV but pointed out that the confusion because of the tariff orders had resulted in direct-go-home players targeting consumers.

    Reports from Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand said that while the broadcasters had switched off digital signals in most areas of Phase IV, tthis may trigger some protests over the next few days from consumers as the figure of seeding of set top boxes was very low. The DTH players were also active in these areas.

    Maharashtra Cable Operators Federation sources told www.indiantelevision.com that the broadcasters had switched off analogue signals, but rural Maharashtra which faced extreme poverty was still largely uncovered by DAS STBs. However, he said he would have a more tangible report over the next two days.

    Cable Operators Association of Gujarat president Pramod Pandya said that 80-90 per cent of the state had gone digital, but some broadcasters were still supplying analogue signals in certain areas. Meanwhile, it is learnt that Reliance Jio is planning to bring in cheaper STBs soon, though these may not have many fancy features.

    Phase I covering the Metro cities of Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata and Chennai was originally slated for 30 June 2012 and modified to 31 October 2012. The second phase covering 38 cities (with population more than one million) was slated for 31 March 2013.

    The third Phase was to cover all other urban areas (Municipal Corporations/ Municipalities) and was originally slated for 30 September 2014 and modified to 31 December 2015 which was extended to 31 January 2017 and the final phase to 31 March 2017.

  • BARC India in talks with DTH ops, MSOs for RPD to boost robustness

    NEW DELHI: India’s incumbent audience measurement organization Broadcast Audience Research Council of India (BARC) is in talks with DTH operators and MSOs for return path data (RPD) via their respective digital set-top boxes at customer premises to augment the robustness of viewership vital stats it dishes out.

    What does this mean?  It entails capturing passive data collection of household viewership from digital cable and DTH homes via existing set-top-boxes (STBs). This would therefore enable measurement based on a larger sample.

    Broadcast industry sources while confirming that talks are on between BARC India and various DTH operators for additional data that can be generated from non-BARC meters, added that the findings can help almost all stakeholders in the media to further fine-tune their strategies regarding consumer targeting. According to the buzz, talks are on with the likes of Airtel DTH, Sun DTH, Hathway, Tata Sky and DEN among others.

    The proposal on RPD is in addition to moves that BARC India has been making over the last six months to give more credibility and robustness to its data as also insulate itself from allegations of hacking and other malpractices. The organization, in this regard, is also proposing to revamp its Ethics Committee into a Disciplinary Committee that will have semi-judicial powers under a retired court judge.

    TV viewership in India is monitored and measured on the basis of 20,000 BARC India panel homes — that is, homes where it has its BAR-o-Meters installed. BARC is committed to raise that number every year by 10K to reach a total panel of 50,000 homes. However, Indian media industry sources also highlighted the issue whether Indian the eco-system can support an audience panel size larger than what has been planned for as any additional data generated via BARC India and non-BARC boxes would entail a financial cost, which would have to be borne, at the end of the day, by the industry players.

    RPD would substantially increase the sampled base for BARC India, helping further improve accuracy of its data. A larger sample will also minimize effect of any skews in sampling and make tampering difficult. Additional data would also help in reporting viewership of niche channels, apart from helping the measurement organization in reporting VoD, OTT, time shifted viewing and HD channels. Stats regarding smaller geographic regions and split beams of TV channels too would become possible.
    Such tie-ups will also help BARC India’s DTH/cable partners gain insights into TV viewing within their subscriber base in terms of linear TV, VoD and interactive services. Such data also likely to help them understand utilization of content packs and guide the pricing and packaging of services of platform operators.

    Meanwhile, RPD has been employed by data collectors in more developed and matured TV markets like the US, the UK, Australia and also in some parts of Asia for quite some time now. “The ubiquity of digital set-top boxes means that many cable and satellite operators can collect subscriber behaviours as a by-product of their subscriber management processes. Specifically, return path data can provide an economical way for the cable and satellite businesses to enhance the currency TV audience measurement in a manner dedicated to the needs of the multi-channel television industry,” Hong Kong-headquartered Asian media industry organization CASBAA had stated in one of its recent reports on multi-channel advertising in APAC.

    The FCC’s proposal to open cable set-top boxes to competition had thrust them into the spotlight. In 2016 when the Obama-government nominated FCC chief had proposed to throw open the STBs to competition and third-party manufacturers, Multichannel News had reported that “the role that STBs play not as content portals, but as providers of return-path data (RPD)” too is important.

    ALSO READ:

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  • TRAI gets support from Subhash Chandra on inter-connect guidelines

    TRAI gets support from Subhash Chandra on inter-connect guidelines

    NEW DELHI: Urging all the stakeholders of the Indian broadcast and cable segments to sink their differences and “come together” for the overall benefit  of the industry, Zee group chairman Subhash Chandra supported regulator TRAI’s draft inter-connect guidelines that, amongst other such broadcast regulations, have been put on hold owing to them legally challenged in courts.  

    “I am a strong supporter of (TRAI’s draft) inter-connect regulations,” Chandra, a Rajya Sabha Member of Parliament from Haryana state, said, adding that in order to reduce litigations amongst stakeholders in the industry it was paramount to “support” such regulations.

    However, Chandra made it clear that though broadcast and cable industry should back TRAI draft guidelines at present — “at least temporarily” — such guidelines should be relaxed over a period of time and jocularly added that rampant litigations financially enriched lawyers only. He was responding to a question from the audience on growing division between broadcasters and distribution platforms, especially the MSOs and LCOs.

    Earlier, delivering the keynote address at the SATCAB meet organized by the All-India Dish Antennae Aavishkaar Sangh, the Zee/Essel Group founder said that there was no reason why the estimated 230,000 (his estimates) local cable operators in the country should not shed allegiance to multiple industry bodies and “unite under one umbrella” to become a force to reckon with so that their voice could be heard more forcefully in the corridors of power.

    Pointing out that not only the MSOs and LCOs should unite, but “all stakeholders” like broadcasters too, Chandra sounded a word of caution, “As an industry we need to be alert to technological evolution.” He added that unless that happens, others, like telcos, “will take a lead over consumer experience”, which will be “our weakness.”

    Chandra said the cable industry had to prepare itself “to catch up with the future” as at present the industry was at “ground level with basic set top boxes”, for example, when technology (like 3D printing) could soon make it possible for viewers to get a different experience in, say, a TV cookery show.

    Referring to various concerns of the LCOs, he said he had ensured that the issue of entertainment tax got subsumed in the Goods and Services Tax (GST), but for him to take up issues relating to the sector stakeholders needed to unite.

    Going back in time to 1992, he dwelt on how the idea of Zee had been drawn up and how when he had given this information to a senior official in the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (MIB), he had been strongly criticized for the whole idea and was told it would never succeed. “But in just three months of launch”, he said, “Zee had 300,000 television homes subscribing to it.”  

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  • Budget 2017 Wish-list: MSOs demand industry status, rationalisation of entertainment & services taxes

    Budget 2017 Wish-list: MSOs demand industry status, rationalisation of entertainment & services taxes

    NEW DELHI: Annually various sectors of the Indian industry draw wish-list and hope that the government will grant them some relief during the presentation of the annual Budget of the country. MSOs are no exception and the All India Digital Cable Federation (AIDCF) has not only demanded an industry status, which will give it related financial incentives, but also rationalisation of various other taxes, including service and entertainment taxes.

    “Grant us infrastructure status for the (distribution) industry and remove the 8 per cent AGR applicable for MSOs offering broadband via cable,” said AIDCF Secretary-general Saharsh Damani when asked by indiantelevision.com about what the organisation would like Finance Minister Arun Jaitley to announce during his Budget presentation on February 1, 2017.

    AIDCF has also exhorted the government to grant them parity with manufacturing sector vis-a-vis u/s 2A as a disparity between the service and the manufacturing sectors is “adversely affecting” the growth and consolidation of service sector of which the MSOs are part of.

    “The tax benefits under Section 72A of the Income-tax Act, 1961 in respect of amalgamation or demerger (carry forward and set off of accumulated loss and unabsorbed depreciation allowances) are currently limited to industrial undertakings or a ship, hotel, aircraft or banking. The definition of industrial undertaking should be widened to include service industry, broadcasters and content production companies,” Damani said.

    The AIDCF, which is said to be a new and digital avatar of MSO Alliance, would also like removal of dual applicability of service and entertainment taxes on the cable TV.

    According to the apex body of MSOs, till the time GST (Goods and Services Tax) comes in place, entertainment tax paid to a state government may also be made creditable against the service tax liability of the cable TV sector. What does it mean? When a cable TV network, for example, pays an entertainment tax of Rs 100, then it should be able to adjust the same against the service tax payable and get a credit there on, AIDCF said.

    “This will be a short term measure, but will give higher declaration of entertainment tax and will bring in sufficient numbers to ensure that (overall revenue) collection of the government on service tax does not drop,” AIDCF’s Damani explained.

    Originally GST was supposed to have rolled out from April 1, 2017, but because of political wrangling and some states raising doubts on their share of the tax collected under a GST regime, Finance Minister Jaitley, according to media reports, has opined the new tax regime could be rolled out some time middle of 2017.

    Apart from that, AIDCF has also urged the government to rationalise indirect taxes like import duties on network equipment. Further, the organisation has suggested allowing use of USO (Universal Service Obligation) Funds for broadband infrastructure expansion would greatly benefit the industry.

    Also Read:

    Broadcasters bat for parity with print medium under GST

    India, US should resolve IPR issues at earliest: IACC

  • Budget 2017 Wish-list: MSOs demand industry status, rationalisation of entertainment & services taxes

    Budget 2017 Wish-list: MSOs demand industry status, rationalisation of entertainment & services taxes

    NEW DELHI: Annually various sectors of the Indian industry draw wish-list and hope that the government will grant them some relief during the presentation of the annual Budget of the country. MSOs are no exception and the All India Digital Cable Federation (AIDCF) has not only demanded an industry status, which will give it related financial incentives, but also rationalisation of various other taxes, including service and entertainment taxes.

    “Grant us infrastructure status for the (distribution) industry and remove the 8 per cent AGR applicable for MSOs offering broadband via cable,” said AIDCF Secretary-general Saharsh Damani when asked by indiantelevision.com about what the organisation would like Finance Minister Arun Jaitley to announce during his Budget presentation on February 1, 2017.

    AIDCF has also exhorted the government to grant them parity with manufacturing sector vis-a-vis u/s 2A as a disparity between the service and the manufacturing sectors is “adversely affecting” the growth and consolidation of service sector of which the MSOs are part of.

    “The tax benefits under Section 72A of the Income-tax Act, 1961 in respect of amalgamation or demerger (carry forward and set off of accumulated loss and unabsorbed depreciation allowances) are currently limited to industrial undertakings or a ship, hotel, aircraft or banking. The definition of industrial undertaking should be widened to include service industry, broadcasters and content production companies,” Damani said.

    The AIDCF, which is said to be a new and digital avatar of MSO Alliance, would also like removal of dual applicability of service and entertainment taxes on the cable TV.

    According to the apex body of MSOs, till the time GST (Goods and Services Tax) comes in place, entertainment tax paid to a state government may also be made creditable against the service tax liability of the cable TV sector. What does it mean? When a cable TV network, for example, pays an entertainment tax of Rs 100, then it should be able to adjust the same against the service tax payable and get a credit there on, AIDCF said.

    “This will be a short term measure, but will give higher declaration of entertainment tax and will bring in sufficient numbers to ensure that (overall revenue) collection of the government on service tax does not drop,” AIDCF’s Damani explained.

    Originally GST was supposed to have rolled out from April 1, 2017, but because of political wrangling and some states raising doubts on their share of the tax collected under a GST regime, Finance Minister Jaitley, according to media reports, has opined the new tax regime could be rolled out some time middle of 2017.

    Apart from that, AIDCF has also urged the government to rationalise indirect taxes like import duties on network equipment. Further, the organisation has suggested allowing use of USO (Universal Service Obligation) Funds for broadband infrastructure expansion would greatly benefit the industry.

    Also Read:

    Broadcasters bat for parity with print medium under GST

    India, US should resolve IPR issues at earliest: IACC

  • Slow pace of court cases, MSO registration may delay DAS deadline

    Slow pace of court cases, MSO registration may delay DAS deadline

    NEW DELHI: Between the analog sunset and a digital morning are court cases and cumbersome and slow MSO registration processes. And, the deadline of 31 December 2016 appears to be becoming a distant possibility despite assertions to the contrary in the stakeholder-government meetings.

    A mere 26 MSOs got provisional registration in November 2016, taking the total to 1,059 and the number of permanent MSOs (with ten-year licences) remaining static at 229.

    With the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) directive about doing away with security clearances for MSOs not being communicated in writing to the MIB, confusion prevails slowing down the registration processes of MSOs for delivering services in DAS areas.

    Junior minister in the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (MIB) Rajyavardhan Rathore had admitted in response to a question in Parliament recently that legal cases, filed mostly by cable operators relating to some phases of digital rollout, may delay the year-end sunset date for analog services in the country.

    Though MIB officials and regulator TRAI in public insist that final digitisation deadline won’t be extended, in private government officials do admit that in Phase IV areas, comprising approximately 100,000 villages, small towns and hamlets, seeding of STBs is far from the desired level. An MIB official pointed out after the last DAS Task Force Meeting late last month that cash crunch due to demonetisation of high-value currency notes has only added to the problem on the ground slowing down the entire digital rollout process.

    Further impeding STB seeding is the slowing registration of MSOs who’d actually do the work on the ground.

    MIB List of Cancelled Registrations

    Meanwhile, MIB yesterday released a list of 44 MSOs whose registrations have been cancelled or their proposal for licences closed – as against 42 in October and 29 at the end of September 2016.These cancellations exclude four cases – Kal Cables of Chennai, Godfather Communication Pvt. Ltd of Amritsar, Digi Cable Network (India) Pvt Ltd of Mumbai, and Intermedia Cable Communication Pvt. Ltd of Delhi — in which provisional or permanent registrations were issued after high courts stayed the cancellation orders in petitions filed by these MSOs.

    Most of the other cases in the list of cancelled registrations had failed to get security clearance from the MHA. However, there are cases of many MSOs holding provisional licences not completing certain formalities relating to shareholders and so on.

    According to the latest list up to 30 November 2016, the areas of operation of two MSOs (one each in the permanent and provisional lists) have been revised or corrected after 31 October 2016.Of the new licensees, three (UCS Broadband Private Limited of Lucknow, Elxire IT Services Pvt. Ltd of Haryana and Microsense Wireless Pvt. Ltd of Chennai) have got pan-India licences. Maury Diginet Pvt. Ltd of Bihar has got pan-India licence for Phase II, III and IV.

    The other new registrations after October 2016 include state-wide licences or for specific districts in Kerala, Himachal Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Chattisgarh, Rajasthan, Telengana, Andhra Pradesh, Manipur, Odisha, Punjab, Delhi and Tripura.In one of the meetings of stakeholders at MIB it was revealed that though there were a reported 6,000 MSOs in the country, but only a handful of them had come forward to register.

    ALSO READ:
    MIB’s digital deadline dilemma: to relax or not

    30 MSOs got provisional licences in Oct, taking total to 1033

     

  • Slow pace of court cases, MSO registration may delay DAS deadline

    Slow pace of court cases, MSO registration may delay DAS deadline

    NEW DELHI: Between the analog sunset and a digital morning are court cases and cumbersome and slow MSO registration processes. And, the deadline of 31 December 2016 appears to be becoming a distant possibility despite assertions to the contrary in the stakeholder-government meetings.

    A mere 26 MSOs got provisional registration in November 2016, taking the total to 1,059 and the number of permanent MSOs (with ten-year licences) remaining static at 229.

    With the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) directive about doing away with security clearances for MSOs not being communicated in writing to the MIB, confusion prevails slowing down the registration processes of MSOs for delivering services in DAS areas.

    Junior minister in the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (MIB) Rajyavardhan Rathore had admitted in response to a question in Parliament recently that legal cases, filed mostly by cable operators relating to some phases of digital rollout, may delay the year-end sunset date for analog services in the country.

    Though MIB officials and regulator TRAI in public insist that final digitisation deadline won’t be extended, in private government officials do admit that in Phase IV areas, comprising approximately 100,000 villages, small towns and hamlets, seeding of STBs is far from the desired level. An MIB official pointed out after the last DAS Task Force Meeting late last month that cash crunch due to demonetisation of high-value currency notes has only added to the problem on the ground slowing down the entire digital rollout process.

    Further impeding STB seeding is the slowing registration of MSOs who’d actually do the work on the ground.

    MIB List of Cancelled Registrations

    Meanwhile, MIB yesterday released a list of 44 MSOs whose registrations have been cancelled or their proposal for licences closed – as against 42 in October and 29 at the end of September 2016.These cancellations exclude four cases – Kal Cables of Chennai, Godfather Communication Pvt. Ltd of Amritsar, Digi Cable Network (India) Pvt Ltd of Mumbai, and Intermedia Cable Communication Pvt. Ltd of Delhi — in which provisional or permanent registrations were issued after high courts stayed the cancellation orders in petitions filed by these MSOs.

    Most of the other cases in the list of cancelled registrations had failed to get security clearance from the MHA. However, there are cases of many MSOs holding provisional licences not completing certain formalities relating to shareholders and so on.

    According to the latest list up to 30 November 2016, the areas of operation of two MSOs (one each in the permanent and provisional lists) have been revised or corrected after 31 October 2016.Of the new licensees, three (UCS Broadband Private Limited of Lucknow, Elxire IT Services Pvt. Ltd of Haryana and Microsense Wireless Pvt. Ltd of Chennai) have got pan-India licences. Maury Diginet Pvt. Ltd of Bihar has got pan-India licence for Phase II, III and IV.

    The other new registrations after October 2016 include state-wide licences or for specific districts in Kerala, Himachal Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Chattisgarh, Rajasthan, Telengana, Andhra Pradesh, Manipur, Odisha, Punjab, Delhi and Tripura.In one of the meetings of stakeholders at MIB it was revealed that though there were a reported 6,000 MSOs in the country, but only a handful of them had come forward to register.

    ALSO READ:
    MIB’s digital deadline dilemma: to relax or not

    30 MSOs got provisional licences in Oct, taking total to 1033

     

  • 30 MSOs got provisional licences in Oct, taking total to 1033

    30 MSOs got provisional licences in Oct, taking total to 1033

    NEW DELHI: With 30 more multi-system operators (MSOs) getting provisional registration in October, the total has risen to 1033 with just around seven weeks to go for switching off analogue signals and completion of digital addressable system for cable television around the country.

    While the total of provisional licences as on 31 October went up from 774 to 804, the number of permanent licences (10 years) remained static at 229.

    The Information and Broadcasting Ministry today released the list of 42 MSOs – as against 29 MSOs at the end of September — licences of which had been cancelled and cases closed. In addition, there are four cases — Godfather Communication Pvt. Ltd of Amritsar, Kal Cables Pvt Ltd of Chennai, Digi Cable Network (India) Pvt Ltd of Mumbai, and Intermedia Cable Communication Pvt. Ltd of Delhi — in which high courts stayed the cancellation orders in petitions filed by these MSOs.

    The number of cancellations or cases closed has gone up by 15 since 2 June this year. Most of the other cases in the list of cancelled registrations had failed to get security clearance from the home ministry. However, there are cases of many MSOs holding provisional licences not completing certain formalities relating to shareholders and so on.

    According to the latest list up to 31 October 2016, the areas of operation of four MSOs (two each in the permanent and provisional list) have been revised or corrected after 30 September 2016. Of the new licencees, two — Enyes Network Communication Private Ltd of Tamil Nadu and Satcom Satellite Network of Mumbai – have got pan-India licences.

    The other new registrations after September 2016 include the states of, or specific districts in, Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Uttarakhand, Gujarat, Karnataka, and Punjab.

    With the home ministry directive about doing away with security clearances for MSOs not being communicated in writing to the MIB, the pace remains slow.

    The permanent licence issued to Kal Cable of Chennai had been cancelled on 20 August 2014, but this cancellation was set aside by Madras High Court on 5 September the same year. However, Kal Cable’s name continues to be in the cancelled list – presumably because the cases are still pending.

    In the last meeting of the DAS Task Force, it was revealed that though there were a reported 6000 MSOs in the country but only a handful of them had come forward to register.

    Also read:  MSOs finally cross 1000 as pan-India DAS deadline nears