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Tag: multi-system operators (MSOs)

  • Digitisation has failed to show increase in ARPUs: Deloitte

    Digitisation has failed to show increase in ARPUs: Deloitte

    NEW DELHI: Although carriage fees saw a reduction of 15-20 per cent after the first two phases of digitisation, the delay in implementation of the various phases of digitisation means the promised jump in subscription revenues and average revenue per user (ARPU) has not materialized.

     

    The recently launched Digitization and Mobility: Next frontier of growth for M&E, report by Deloitte states, “One year into the implementation of digitisation, the cable and broadcast sector is still trying to iron out creases and get systems in place. The key goal of digitisation was addressability, which was expected to plug leakages in the system. While cable subscribers have been increasing, rampant under-declaration meant, Multi-System Operators (MSOs) that transmitted the signals to cable operators earned little from the large subscriber base.”

     

    In 2014, Deloitte predicts that the digital TV distribution space – both digital cable and Direct-to-Home (DTH) would find ample room for growth given the catalysing effect of digitisation and the headroom for growth provided by non-TV households in the country.

     

    The report prepared for the ASSOCHAM annual M&E meet says about 12 million set-top boxes have been seeded and 80 per cent consumer application forms have been received as of December 2013. The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) claims 100 per cent digitisation in DAS phase II.

     

    TRAI has also said recommendations on the new DTH licences would be brought out very soon.

     

    HITS licenses which have been issued to two players, is expected to enable digitisation in phase III and phase IV markets.

     

    Meanwhile, the report notes, “Complaints have poured in against set-top boxes. People in the city are complaining about digital set-top boxes installed in their houses and offices. Visual and sound disturbances coupled with channels going off air from time to time have left viewers unhappy.”

     

    It also notes that “in the haste to install set-top boxes in the city, cable operators have overlooked a crucial step – that of filling in the Cable Access Form (CAF) before installation of the device. The purpose behind mandating DAS was to identify the actual number of cable viewers in the country. But with most customers not filling in the form, the purpose still remains defeated.”

     

    “With penetration of TV in India standing at approximately 65 per cent, at present, the country has close to 80 million non-TV households, which presents a key opportunity for the television distribution players. This low level of penetration holds a great potential for players to increase their subscribers and revenues. Drivers such as rising incomes, decreasing household size, multi TV phenomenon and rising urbanisation would only provide a further fillip.”

     

    Noting that the government’s digitisation mandate is “slowly but steadily progressing towards its target,” the report says the television distribution space is abuzz with prospects, albeit it would call for investments and improvements, especially from the digital cable players. All metros except Chennai have been largely digitised and the phase II of digitisation, which covers 38 cities, is also nearing completion. Phase III and IV of digitisation targets December 2014 for their completion. This would mean digitisation of additional 40 to 50 million households in the balance towns.”

     

    The report also says that phase III aims to focus on digitisation of all urban areas (municipal areas). Given the extensive coverage of MSOs and LCOs in such areas, digital cable is expected to make the most in the relatively densely populated areas, notwithstanding the churn of subscribers to DTH. In the first phase of digitisation, DTH operators were able to grab 20 per cent of subscribers converting them from analog to digital.

     

    Phase IV aims to focus on digitisation for the rest of India, which predominantly aims at rural areas and tier II cities. DTH is expected to gain the most in areas with sparse population and inadequate cable infrastructure.

     

    Digitisation phases, scope and affected subscribers

    Digitisation phase               Scope                                        Subscribers affected (million)

    Phase I                            Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai        8-10

    Phase II                           All cities with population > 1 million   12-14

    Phase III                          All urban areas (Municipal areas)        30-35

    Phase IV                         Rest of India                                               22-25

    Source: Industry discussions

     

    DTH, as a sector, had started off by concentrating on rural areas, which were deprived of cable infrastructure and gradually also entered the urban markets. However, they are still strong in rural markets.

     

    Given the complexity of the exercise across the country and the rate at which television penetration is growing (MPA expects India to have 183 million pay-TV homes by 2020); the scale of undertaking of digitisation will be a big challenge.  

     

    But it says analysts and sector professionals agree the future looks promising with the lessons learnt from phases I and II.

  • 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.

  • TRAI asks MSOs and LMOs to mutually draft agreement to fast forward billing

    TRAI asks MSOs and LMOs to mutually draft agreement to fast forward billing

    MUMBAI: The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) will not see any further delay in implementation of billing. And it is with this aim that the regulator has decided to meet both the last mile owners (LMOs) and the multi system operators (MSOs) at regular intervals. The first of these meetings was held on 3 June in Mumbai, the focus of which remained billing, revenue share and instilling good practices.

     

    TRAI met some 300 cable operators, comprising members of Maharashtra Cable Operators Federation (MCOF) and a few independent MSOs from Bengaluru, Hyderabad and Pune in the morning, while met the national MSOs including: Hathway Cable & Datacom, DEN Networks, Siticable, IMCL and MSOs from Nagpur, Pune among others in the afternoon.

     

    The message from the TRAI officials that comprised GS Kesarwani and SK Singhal was clear. “TRAI has asked the MSOs and LMOs to mutually come up with an agreement clearly defining the revenue share model, billing details etc which then needs to be signed by both the parties. In case the MSOs and LMOs cannot come up with this agreement mutually, TRAI will then draft an agreement, which will have to be followed by all,” informs a MSO who attended the meeting.

     

     No deadline has been set as yet for the two parties to draft the agreement. “TRAI officials also questioned MSOs on the reasons for not complying with the existing regulations,” adds the MSO.

     

    On the other hand, LMOs in their meeting with TRAI brought out issues relating to a few MSOs who indulged in taking the networks forcibly from LMOs, revenue share and billing. “We had a fruitful meeting with TRAI officials and now will wait for what they come up with next,” says MCOF president Arvind Prabhoo.

     

    He informs, “Well! We had reached some kind of agreement on the issue of billing with both Hathway and IMCL four months back, but nothing happened after that. We discussed those issues with TRAI officials as well.”

     

    In the meeting with LMOs, TRAI also discussed issues pertaining to DAS phase III and IV. “We had points about revenue share as well. TRAI has taken notes of the same,” he concludes.      

  • 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

  • Broadcasters to hike rates in both DAS and analogue areas

    Broadcasters to hike rates in both DAS and analogue areas

    MUMBAI: Things will be different the next time multi-system operators (MSOs) and direct-to-home (DTH) players sit across the table with broadcasters for renewal of channel contracts. Thanks to the price defreeze proposed by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) after nearly seven years. The regulator on Monday released a notification, offering a 27.5 per cent inflation-linked hike to stakeholders in the tariff ceiling. The hike can be implemented in two phases: 15 per cent from April and the remaining 12.5 per cent from January 2015.

     

    Broadcasters in particular have welcomed the move. With the 15 per cent hike April onward applicable to the analogue business, broadcasters are happy that they can at least increase their ARPUs.

     

    “CPS deals in DAS areas will not be impacted with this tariff ceiling hike. But if the MSO or DTH player has a RIO deal, be it in the DAS or non-DAS region, the rates will go up,” informs Media Pro COO Gurjeev Singh Kapoor.

     

    For those wondering how rates can head north in DAS areas when the tariff ceiling notification is for non-addressable areas, here’s the logic. With RIO rates on digital platforms being 42 per cent of those on analogue platforms, a 15 per cent increase in analogue rates is bound to raise RIO rates for digital. Hence, while the hike in tariff ceiling is for non-DAS areas, the same is applicable to DAS areas as well. “This is the best thing that has happened to the industry, as we now have a platform to increase the ARPU and ask for more from consumers,” says Kapoor.

     

    While an aggregator, on condition of anonymity, puts it as: “DAS rates are related to non-DAS rates. The hike of 15 per cent is on the RIO rate. So even though many feel that the fixed deals will not get affected, they will. Because the matrix for negotiation will change now and this is not only for analogue areas, but also for DAS areas. The negotiation for fixed deals is done on the RIO rate, and if that goes up, of course, the fixed deal will also rise.”

     

    Most of the contracts are up for renewal in April; for TheOneAlliance, 60 per cent of the contracts will be renewed now whereas for Media Pro, close to 90 per cent of the contracts with both DTH operators and MSOs are up for renewal.

     

    “We have a very good scope and so, have decided to increase the rates for every MSO and DTH player in both DAS and non-DAS areas.  After a long time, broadcasters have got a hike in tariff ceiling and so, we would take the opportunity to hike the rates,” says TheOneAlliance EVP sales and strategy Makarand Palekar. “We will sit with the concerned MSOs and DTH players and try and incorporate this even in existing channel deals. And I am sure that DTH operators and MSOs will be happy with this as they can collect the same from the ground now.”

     

    Will consumers see a hike in bills this month onward? “We will move things gradually. We will sit for negotiations now,” informs Palekar.

     

    Are broadcasters happy with the percentage of hike? Palekar feels it could have been better. “But with digitisation, MSOs are currently in investment mode. So, in the current scenario, this could have been the best,” he says.

     

    Kapoor agrees with Palekar saying, “Yes, it is not enough. The increase should come in every year, but then it is a welcome move. They have finally woken up from their slumber.”

     

    According to the aggregator, “This figure of 15 per cent has been derived by the authority using past metrics and calibrations. While the hike is under the inflation rate, this is the best TRAI could have come up with.”

     

    Apart from broadcasters, are MSOs happy with the move? “MSOs will get bothered with this hike. We may end up paying for this from our own pocket if we cannot collect it from the ground,” rues ABS 7 Star CMD Atul Saraf.

     

    According to him, MSOs don’t put pressure on LCOs by hiking rates in the analogue regime. “There are chances that the local cable operator can go to the other MSO, if the other player doesn’t hike the price. So either both the MSOs operating in a particular area increase the price, or else, there will be competition,” he adds.

     

    About hiking prices in DAS areas, Saraf says, “Broadcasters have already hiked the price in DAS areas. Also, the deals are on per box basis and there is 100 per cent declaration. So why would they want to increase the price in the DAS regime? So in the DAS regime, if broadcasters plan to hike prices, a few of us may go to the court.”

     

    The increase in RIO by 15 per cent leaves a grey area for broadcasters to hike rates in both DAS and non-DAS areas, according to Saraf. “But there are hardly any RIO deals currently, as we prefer entering into a fixed deal, and especially in the non-DAS areas. But now it may be that MSOs may do a RIO deal, especially for sports channels,” he informs.

     

    GTPL Hathway COO Shaji Mathews too feels MSOs will not benefit from the tariff hike. “Given that DTH rates are also low today, this hike will lead to more competition between the MSO and DTH,” he says.

     

    Kapoor however begs to differ. “The ARPU for DAS phase III and IV is Rs 160 while for DTH, it is close to Rs 300. Even with the hike, the ARPU for cable will go up to Rs 190. There is a big gap between the two and I don’t see consumers moving from cable TV to DTH due to this hike,” he opines.

     

    Whether the MSOs and LCOs will benefit from the move or no, still needs to be seen. The question now is, whether the consumer will pay for the hiked price in the cable TV bills? “The problem is not with the consumers, they are ready to pay,” says Palekar.

     

    “We are showcasing around 400 channels, so the hike was much needed. It is also a good way to move people to digitisation,” concludes Kapoor.

  • SureWaves to tie-up with 50 cable TV channels

    SureWaves to tie-up with 50 cable TV channels

    KOLKATA: Having tied-up with over 300 local cable TV channels, Bangalore-based digital media-technology company SureWaves MediaTech now aims to have another 50 cable TV channels for integrated advertisement aggregation.

     

    “We plan to reach out to all cable TV channels in the country. At present, we have tied up with 300 channel partners. It is a continuous process. With time, aggregation with the remaining channels will take place,” SureWaves head strategy and regional director-south, Nishant Nair, told indiantelevision.com.

     

    SureWaves MediaTech offers the SureWaves Media Grid, an integrated advertisement aggregation, content delivery, network management, media planning, and reporting platform. The company positions a proprietary device that is connected to the grid and the TV channels. SureWaves provides real-time data monitoring of ads, which has made cable TV advertising accountable for the first time; according to Nair.

     

     The company collaborates with local channels owned by multi-system operators (MSOs). “We are not interested in tying up with local cable operators who have channels as we are not sure about the quality of these channels,” said Nair. “SureWaves is already on its way to becoming a game-changer in the way geo-targeted advertising currently works in the country.”

     

     With digitisation picking up pace, the number of satellite channels in the country is expected to grow and SureWaves plans to approach these channels to extend its solution. At present, around 150 brands such as HUL, Wipro, Dabur, Parle, Aircel, Vodafone, Nestle and Honda are utilising SureWaves’ services.

     

     “We are also targeting national advertisers, who want to reach all the markets,” said Nair. The television advertising spend is around Rs 15,000 crore and the eastern region, primarily dominated by West Bengal, accounts for nearly 20 per cent of the TV advertisement market.

     

     Just last month, SureWaves started its Kolkata operations and is betting on the Kolkata market for growth. The company currently has over 75 employees.

  • 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.

  • Kolkata LCOs against having to obtain NOCs from MSOs

    Kolkata LCOs against having to obtain NOCs from MSOs

    KOLKATA: It’s their fight for survival. Local cable operators (LOC) from Kolkata are now up in arms against the regulation that requires them to obtain no-objection certificates (NOCs) from multi-system operators (MSOs) to be able to get their licences renewed.

     

    It’s not just the billing, inter-connect agreements or revenue sharing issues that is of concern to the LCOs. The requirement of having to obtain NOCs from MSOs for their annual licences is another issue they are preparing to fight against.

     

    LCOs across the country now come under an amended rule which states that LCOs have to take NOCs from their respective MSOs for renewal of their annual licence from the Post and Telegraph department, which, the LCOs feel, makes their survival at the mercy of the MSOs.

     

    Swapan Chowdhury, convener of the Joint Forum of Cable Operators’ Association (JFCOA), said earlier the LCOs, the last mile operators, had to apply to the government for renewal of their licences but now have to take NOCs from private companies, the MSOs. “It shall be difficult for the LCOs to exist and operate,” he argued.

     

    “The forum will raise its objection with TRAI (Telecom Regulatory Auhtority of India) and shall (also) challenge the merit of such an amendment in the appropriate court of law shortly,” Chowdhury said.

     

    “This mandatory digitisation has adversely affected our livelihood and has proved detrimental to our interests. If TRAI wants the LCOs to be wiped out from the cable TV industry business, it is fine but asking us to get NOCs from MSOs is not a fair idea at all,” said an LCO from the Cable Operators Sangram Committee.

     

    The LCOs are also against the practice of having to renew licences every year. They want the Ministry of Information & Broadcasting to issue LCOs licences for 10 years.

     

    “The LCOs are registered with post offices for 1 year whereas the MSOs get the licenses for 10 years from the ministry. This is making LCO business uncertain,” Chowdhury rued.

     

    Kolkata-based MSOs when contacted said they would adhere to the rules and regulations prescribed by the authorities and ensure that digitisation of cable TV happens smoothly.

  • Cable TV subscribers unhappy with raised subscription fees

    Cable TV subscribers unhappy with raised subscription fees

    KOLKATA: Indiantelevision.com has done a series of reports on the concerns of local cable operators (LCOs) and multi system operators (MSOs) around the process of digitisation.

    However, what we haven’t touched upon yet is the response of city-based cable TV consumers to DAS, especially the 30 to 50 per cent increase in subscription charges over the past two months.

    Cable subscribers in Barasat, Hooghly, Khardah, some parts of Salt Lake and northern Kolkata – regions that fall under DAS 1 – are learnt to be fuming over LCOs’ decision to randomly increase subscription rates.

    So much so, some of them are refusing to pay subscription fees while others are willing to pay just the fees, sans the service tax and amusement tax components and without getting proper bills from the LCOs.

    Cable Operators Digitalisation Committee of the Association of Cable Operators convener Swapan Chowdhury says: “Customers were expecting to get the bills and now, on not getting the bills, are upset. Some are not willing to pay even the monthly rental.”

    Analyst Namit Dave feels customers who were used to paying on an average Rs 60 – Rs 90 during the analogue regime are uncomfortable shelling out higher viewing charges.

    According to cable ops in Shyam Bazaar and north Kolkata, customers who used to pay Rs 120 per month are raising a hue and cry when asked to pay Rs 150 as monthly rental.

    “We really do not know how to explain things and convince people,” said a cable operator.

    Barasat resident Tumpai Das argued that the sudden increase of subscription fee from Rs 150 to Rs 280 was unjustified.

    “The local cable operators have not added anything new in terms of quality in connection or channels. They have started collecting this amount for the past two months. If they are not controlled, soon they may hike again,” he rues.

    “We are not being issued a valid bill. When we ask for a bill, they just write it in a white paper and issue it. If the cable operators are not controlled, they would fleece us to any extent. We would have no other option but to opt for DTH connection if they hike the charges further,” says a retired teacher from Hooghly.

    Meanwhile, Cable Operators Sangram Committee general secretary Apurba Bhattacharya feels that going forward the situation is unlikely to change unless billing begins.