ITV

Tag: National Cable

  • Trai holds back interconnect order

    Trai holds back interconnect order

    NEW DELHI: The broadcast and cable regulator, which was slated to issue an order on inter-connect agreements late this week, has held it back owing to various forms of protests against the must-provide clause relating to distribution activities.

    A source in the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) admitted today that the regulator, which was supposed to come out with an inter-connect order, has deferred it “owing to feedback from the industry that are being studied now.”

    While murmurs of criticism have surfaced both from the broadcasting and cable segments of the industry over a suggestion on making available TV channels to all platforms on a non-discriminatory basis, the Trai source also said that vested interests have to be located and neutralized.

    It was all started by a cable ops’ body, National Cable & Telecom Association (NCTA), when it shot off a letter to Trai on 2 October itself pointing out that a suggestion on “Promotion of Competition in Distribution of TV channels” (clause-6.3) may actually turn tout to be `anti-competitive’
    and lead to monopolistic trends.

    Quoting from the Trai recommendations that “broadcasters will not be held to be in violation of the must-provide condition if it is ensured that the signals are provided through a particular designated agent/distributor or any other intermediary and not directly,” NCTA had contended that a scenario could not be ruled out that Star or Zee Telefilms, for example, provide exclusive signals to their affiliates (like Hathway, Siti Cable and RPG, which is an exclusive distributor of star channels in Kolkata) who could
    continue the monopolistic trends.

    Star India, meanwhile, is said to have put across its views to Trai on the must-provide clause in an informal manner, holding the position that making available all the content to everybody may not be that good an idea as programming acquisition is costly.

    At a recent Indian Broadcasting Foundation (IBF) meeting in Mumbai, too, some broadcasters has expressed their reservation on “must-provide”, which may get reflected during a scheduled interaction with the government that IBF is scheduled to have on Monday.

    Though this must-provide clause is yet to become a law, it has seen its first defaulter in Indian pubcaster Doordarshan that refused to share two of its channels showing cricket matches with the Zee Group’s Dish TV, country’s first DTH service.

    Asked about this aspect, a senior Trai official wryly said, “Well, the instance has been brought to our notice, but the must-provide clause is yet to become a law.”

  • Miffed cable operators issue memo against broadcaster to the I&B minister

    Miffed cable operators issue memo against broadcaster to the I&B minister

    NEW DELHI: The cable operators are at it once again and this time the allegations are more precise and mince no words. From conditional access to DTH to the previous government to the latest ‘trap’ being discussed by the sector regulator, all have been painted almost black with one brush — broadcasters.

    “It is indeed shocking to observe that India remains the only country in the world, which has no law whatsoever to regulate satellite broadcasting,” a memorandum, submitted by three cable organisations to the Prime Minister, infobroad minister Jaipal Reddy and Telecom Regulatory Authority of India chief Pradip Baijal, states. The text of the memorandum was released to the media here today.

    It further states: “Taking full advantage of the complete lawless state of affairs, the satellite broadcasters have unleashed a spate of unfair, unjustified and monopolistic practices over the hapless consumers and cable operators in order to fulfill their devious objectives.”
    The signatories to the memorandum have pointed that broadcasters, especially the two big ones, “abused their position” to reverse government and court orders on conditional access system (CAS) “in spite of the fact that implementation of CAS was in the public interest and that Rs 8000 million had already been invested in setting up the infrastructure” for addressability. The signatories to the memorandum, which attempts at reverting attention on the broadcast and cable sector, include Cable Operators Federation of India, Cable Networks Association of India and National Cable & Telecom Association.

    On monopolistic tendencies prevalent in the sector, the memorandum says that most broadcasters are selling their channels as bundles/ bouquets without giving the right to the consumers to choose individual channels of choice. “To make matters worse, pay channel pricing has been used as a predatory tool to eliminate competition on the ground,” the memo states.

    DTH too has come under the cable operators’ scanner and it has been alleged that, while all forms of competition are welcome, the cable operators fear that the broadcasters will deny a level playing field by initially subsidizing the content on DTH and making it more expensive on cable, leading to wholesale destruction of the cable TV industry which could lead to an unemployment problem in the country.

    Making all the right political noises, the petitioners have said that 70,000 cable operators of India provided employment to 1,500,000 individuals and the government should ensure that they are “not driven out of their occupation by coercive tactics of foreign broadcasters.”

    The ‘trap’ system or poor man’s set-top box for addressability too hasn’t been spared. Nor the Trai, which has been accused of playing favourite.

    Pointing out that the ‘trap’ is an “obsolete technology, rejected the world over two decades ago, “Trai has been criticised for pushing this obsolete technology with the objective of “putting the cable industry at a technological disadvantage as compared to DTH and broadband.”

    After all this, the demands: immediate enactment of a broadcasting legislation on the lines of the Draft Broadcast Bill of 1997; implementation of CAS; ensuring pay channels are not sold as bouquets; guidelines on restricting advertisement time on pay channels and increasing the basic cable service charges from Rs 72 (excluding taxes) to Rs 180 (excluding local taxes).

    Doesn’t all this sound a bit too familiar?

  • US consumer groups want cable TV re-regulated

    WASHINGTON: Four consumer advocacy groups in the US have indicated that they will lobby Congress to reimpose regulation on cable television operators. The aim is to stop them from gouging TV viewers and dominating the growing market for high-speed Internet service.
    A Reuters report states that US Public Interest Research Group (US PIRG), Consumer federation of America (CFA), The Center for Digital Democracy and the Media Access Project have stated that the authority to oversee prices in the industry should go to state public utility commissions.
    The groups have added that next month they will also lobby for legislation requiring cable operators to allow consumers more leeway to choose which channels they receive.
    CFA’s research director Mark Cooper was quoted in the report saying, “The solution to cable’s unfettered abuse is for Congress to move decision-making out of Washington, return authority to local communities, and give consumers real choices”.
    Cable operators have blamed rising rates on soaring programming costs, especially for sports events. They say the industry faces stiff competition from satellite TV services. Responding to the latest attack by consumer groups, the National Cable and Telecommunications Association has said the proposals amounted to “recycled arguments that fell out of favor a decade ago.”

  • Independent cable operator to install CAS over his network

    Independent cable operator to install CAS over his network

    NEW DELHI: Amidst the prevailing confusion on conditional access, comes a claim from an independent cable operator in Delhi that he is ready to deploy CAS over his network.

    He also claims that at present a survey is being carried out amongst his cable subscribing base of approximately 6,000. “My equipment for CAS is in place as is the subscriber management system,” claimed Vikki Chowdhry, owner of Home Cable Networks and the president of National Cable & Telecom Association.

    Chowdhry said that an investment of one million rupees has already been made on servers and other head-end equipment until now.

    According to Chowdhry, the technology for CAS has been supplied by a Singapore-based firm called SPL, which also does R&D work in this field. The company would also be supplying the digital boxes.

    Chowdhry, who services cable subscribers in some of the upmarket residential areas of Delhi, feels that SPL is designing a chip from his network that would enable tracking of time spent by a cable subscriber on each channel accessed at the home end. “If this technology is successfully implemented, the firms doing the ratings might as well shut shop,” he claimed.

    Currently 10 channels are ready to be put on Home Cable’s network through CAS. Chowdhry is trying out a business plan to sell the digital boxes to subscribers that may cost slightly over Rs 3,000 to a consumer. But unless the consumer buys the boxes, the monthly rent for the box would be around Rs 180, he said.

    How serious is Chowdhry? He claims that a form has been sent out amongst some of his subscribers to list out their preferences where various channels are concerned.