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Tag: Ortel Communication

  • Ortel elevates Satyanaryan Jena as CFO as Manoj Kumar Patra resigns

    Ortel elevates Satyanaryan Jena as CFO as Manoj Kumar Patra resigns

    MUMBAI: Ortel Communication has made an internal promotion as its chief financial officer Manoj Kumar Patra has resigned.

    The board of directors has informed the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) that the company has  accepted  his  resignation and  relieved  him  of  his  responsibilities effective from close of business hours on 5 September, 2017. The board has also informed the BSE that the company has appointed Satyanaryan Jena as the CFO effective from 5 September.

    Patra has been associated with Ortel for more than eight years. He joined Ortel as GM -finance and accounts in November 2008. Prior to this, he was working with Reliance Fresh as the commercial head for more than a year.

    Jena has been associated with the company since 12 November, 2015. He was  previously associated   with  OM  Khejriwal,  CA, lspat Alloys,   Indian Metals and Ferro   Alloys and  Qatar Petroleum.

    ALSO READ :

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  • FICCI Frames 2016: Digitization is a boon, but subject to how it is utilized by all stakeholders

    FICCI Frames 2016: Digitization is a boon, but subject to how it is utilized by all stakeholders

    MUMBAI: Even as a general consensus emerged on digitization being a boon, questions were raised at the ongoing FICCI FRAMES meet on whether the concept and advantages of the concept have been fully understood.

    Even as the TV industry has leapfrogged to more than 800 channels, and Indian Pay TV made the leap from analogue to digital and travelled from single to multi-platforms, the session on ‘Future Proofing Broadcast Distribution’ showed there are still some apprehensions on how the new technology can be used.

    The panelist included Times Network MD& CEO MK Anand, Ortel Communication CEO Bibhu Prasad Rath, Indusind Media and Communication MD & CEO Tony D Silva and Microsoft Corporation India Microsoft Azure and server business country head Srikanth Karnakota. The session was moderated by Zee Network president (Legal & Regulatory) Avnindra Mohan.

    Mohan set the ball rolling with a perplexing question on whether the industry had fully understood the implications of ditigization and convergence and whether stakeholders realized that they can use the same network for delivering different content through different modes of mediums. Thus, he said it shows a paradigm shift in the entire gambit of the distribution system.

    “Digitization has been a boon for the broadcast industry. From the broadcaster point of view, digitization started when the Direct to Home (DTH) system launched in 2003 in India. English news and other English general entertainment channels were being treated as the outsiders for the broadcast business. We had 65 million viewers in English from 2000 to 2005 whereas the total number of television viewers was 400 million. The number of English viewers has grown to 200 million now and that happened because of digitization,” says Anand.

    Anand added that in the next five to ten years, the English entertainment viewership should cross 300 million which is almost close to Hindi general entertainment channels viewership due to digitization.  “Times Now has a very strong and loyal audience in a month we cross the viewership of two and half crores but people don’t know that we have 13 crores of viewers on New Media platform,” informs Anand.

    Being a multi-system operator sharing views on the kind of business opportunities Ortel Communication can have in such a scenario, Rath felt India has grown in a unique fashion for the last two decades but the quality of the networks has been compromised. “The Set Top Box is not a solution to a network and we need to handle Phase III and IV in a different manner and not as Phase I and II”, he added.

    Noting that “we in India do not have one definition for Digitisation.It has been portrayed differently by others”, D’silva asked what the country wanted to achieve through digitization. “I believe there should a national objective about what they want to achieve from digitization. In most the industry today including DTH, 50 per cent of revenue goes in tax”. He felt progress was difficult unless the tax was supportive, but this was not going to happen. “It is the MSOs who are putting up the money and buying the STBs. So there has to be a logical regime of taxation. The STB is the only starting point of digitization. There should be an environment where technology and digitization should go hand in hand,” he felt.

  • FICCI Frames 2016: Digitization is a boon, but subject to how it is utilized by all stakeholders

    FICCI Frames 2016: Digitization is a boon, but subject to how it is utilized by all stakeholders

    MUMBAI: Even as a general consensus emerged on digitization being a boon, questions were raised at the ongoing FICCI FRAMES meet on whether the concept and advantages of the concept have been fully understood.

    Even as the TV industry has leapfrogged to more than 800 channels, and Indian Pay TV made the leap from analogue to digital and travelled from single to multi-platforms, the session on ‘Future Proofing Broadcast Distribution’ showed there are still some apprehensions on how the new technology can be used.

    The panelist included Times Network MD& CEO MK Anand, Ortel Communication CEO Bibhu Prasad Rath, Indusind Media and Communication MD & CEO Tony D Silva and Microsoft Corporation India Microsoft Azure and server business country head Srikanth Karnakota. The session was moderated by Zee Network president (Legal & Regulatory) Avnindra Mohan.

    Mohan set the ball rolling with a perplexing question on whether the industry had fully understood the implications of ditigization and convergence and whether stakeholders realized that they can use the same network for delivering different content through different modes of mediums. Thus, he said it shows a paradigm shift in the entire gambit of the distribution system.

    “Digitization has been a boon for the broadcast industry. From the broadcaster point of view, digitization started when the Direct to Home (DTH) system launched in 2003 in India. English news and other English general entertainment channels were being treated as the outsiders for the broadcast business. We had 65 million viewers in English from 2000 to 2005 whereas the total number of television viewers was 400 million. The number of English viewers has grown to 200 million now and that happened because of digitization,” says Anand.

    Anand added that in the next five to ten years, the English entertainment viewership should cross 300 million which is almost close to Hindi general entertainment channels viewership due to digitization.  “Times Now has a very strong and loyal audience in a month we cross the viewership of two and half crores but people don’t know that we have 13 crores of viewers on New Media platform,” informs Anand.

    Being a multi-system operator sharing views on the kind of business opportunities Ortel Communication can have in such a scenario, Rath felt India has grown in a unique fashion for the last two decades but the quality of the networks has been compromised. “The Set Top Box is not a solution to a network and we need to handle Phase III and IV in a different manner and not as Phase I and II”, he added.

    Noting that “we in India do not have one definition for Digitisation.It has been portrayed differently by others”, D’silva asked what the country wanted to achieve through digitization. “I believe there should a national objective about what they want to achieve from digitization. In most the industry today including DTH, 50 per cent of revenue goes in tax”. He felt progress was difficult unless the tax was supportive, but this was not going to happen. “It is the MSOs who are putting up the money and buying the STBs. So there has to be a logical regime of taxation. The STB is the only starting point of digitization. There should be an environment where technology and digitization should go hand in hand,” he felt.

  • Q1-2016: Cable TV in India – Sequential quarter revenues down, broadband shines

    Q1-2016: Cable TV in India – Sequential quarter revenues down, broadband shines

    Indian Cable TV is a long haul work-in-progress is what we had said last quarter. The results of the four sample companies in the quarter ended 30 June, 2015 (Q1-2016) in that report seem to endorse this fact. All four companies comprising the big three – Hathway Cable and Datacom Limited, Den Networks Ltd, Siti Cable Network Limited and the minnow – Ortel Communication Limited reported a quarter on quarter (QoQ) drop in total income from operations (TIO or revenue) in the current quarter. As expected, broadband subscribers and revenue continues to grow.

    Note: (1) 100,00,000 = 100 lakh = 10 million = 1 crore.

    (2) Some figures are approximate.

    (3) Generally other income has not been factored in for EBIDTA figures in the report.

    Performance

    Though Den Networks’ and Hathway’s YoY results in the current quarter deteriorated, QoQ, both performed better, albeit both the cable companies reported losses. Siti Cable’s loss in Q1-2016 increased YoY and QoQ, and though regional player Ortel returned a profit in the current quarter as compared to a loss in Q1-2015, its Q1-2016 profit was less than half the profit reported in the immediate trailing quarter.

    Over the last few quarters, Den Networks’ financial performance has shown a marked decline. From a company that reported profit after taxes, it has started reporting a loss. Without considering other income, the company reported a negative EBIDTA of Rs 4.67 crore as compared to the operating profit of Rs 57.16 crore in Q1-2015 and a higher operating loss of Rs 5.97 crore in the immediate trailing quarter. However, the company’s Cable TV segment reported a higher QoQ EBIDTA in Q1-2016 of Rs 18 crore (6.9 per cent margin) as compared to the Rs 14 crore (5.3 per cent margin) in Q4-2015, but a lot lower than the EBIDTA of Rs 69 crore (27 per cent margin) in Q1-2015.

    Hathway’s EBIDTA in the current quarter declined 25.4 per cent to Rs 32.73 crore (12.8 per cent margin) as compared to the Rs 43.87 crore (17.5 per cent margin) in the corresponding year ago quarter but was 5.7 per cent more than the Rs 30.98 crore (11.5 per cent margin) in the immediate trailing quarter.

    Siti Cable’s EBIDTA including other income for Q1-2016 increased 5.1 per cent to Rs 38.1 crore as compared to the Rs 36.26 crore in Q1-2015 and was 18.7 per cent more than the Rs 32.11 crore in Q4-2015.

    “Our commitment to improving operational efficiency and streamlining operations continues, leading to EBITDA growth of 18.7 per cent and margin expansion by 501 bps QoQ,” explains Siti Cable executive director and CEO VD Wadhwa.

    Ortel’s EBIDTA in the current quarter improved by 24.1 per cent to Rs 10.84 crore (26.7 per cent margin) as compared to the Rs 8.73 crore (22.1 per cent margin) in Q1-2015, but declined 34.5 per cent as compared to the Rs 16.55 crore (36.9 per cent margin) in the immediate trailing quarter.

    Ortel president and CEO Bibhu Prasad Rath said, “Overall growth was delivered on the back of steady contribution from Cable TV and Broadband segments supported by continued momentum in the Infrastructure Leasing segment. Significant growth in subscriber base, deeper penetration, enhanced product offerings and a strong team, should enable us to notably improve our performance going forward.”

    Total Income from Operations

    Please refer to the figure below. Den Networks, the company with the largest TIO among the four, reported TIO at Rs 265.60 crore, 11.1 per cent less than the Rs 298.81 crore in Q1-2015 and 1.7 per cent lower than the Rs 270.30 crore in Q4-2015. The company’s loss in the current quarter at Rs 51.89 crore was lower than the Rs 61.15 crore reported in the immediate trailing quarter Q4-2015. The company had posted a profit of Rs 1.12 crore (0.4 per cent margin) in the corresponding year ago quarter – Q1-2015.

    Though Hathway reported 5.7 per cent growth in standalone TIO in Q1-2016 to Rs 264,41 from Rs 250.11 crore in Q1-2015 QoQ, its TIO was 2.1 per cent lower than the Rs 270.03 crore in Q4-2015. Hathway’s loss in the current quarter widened to Rs 43.91 crore as compared to the Rs 0.93 crore in Q1-2015, but was considerably lower than the Rs 76.99 crore in Q4-2015.

    Siti Cable reported TIO of Rs 228.09 crore in Q1-2016, which was 9.1 per cent higher than the Rs 209.02 crore in Q1-2015, but was 10.9 per cent lower QoQ than the Rs 256.01 crore in Q4-2015. The company reported a higher loss of Rs 37.11 crore in Q1-2016 as compared to the loss of Rs 31.67 crore and a loss of Rs 34.13 crore in Q4-2015.

    Ortel reported 20.5 per cent growth in TIO at Rs 40.60 crore in Q1-2016 as compared to the Rs 33.69 crore in Q1-2015, but 9.6 per cent lower than the Rs 44.91 crore in Q4-2015. Ortel reported profit after tax (PAT) of Rs 2.44 crore (six per cent margin) as compared to a loss of Rs 1.16 crore in the corresponding year ago quarter, but Q1-2016 PAT was less than half (lower by 56.8 per cent) the PAT of Rs 5.65 crore (12.6 per cent margin) in the immediate trailing quarter.

    Cable TV (Video) Subscription Revenue

    Subscription revenue in the current quarter dropped QoQ in the case of Siti Cable and Hathway, while both Den Network and Ortel saw an increase in YoY and QoQ subscription revenue. At the same time, all the companies have reported higher digitisation numbers in DAS and non-DAS areas. Siti Cable and Ortel have reported a gain in subscription numbers as well. While Den Networks and Hathway have reported flat or slightly higher digital as well as analogue average revenue per user (ARPU), Ortel has reported a slight drop in both ARPUs. 

    According to company sources, Siti Cable, which is the biggest player among the four sample companies in terms of cable TV subscription revenue, had flat QoQ ARPUs in Q1-2016, while YoY ARPUs showed double digit growth. The company claims that its subscriber base has increased by two lakh (all digital) to 107 lakh as it expanded its footprint by entering into 12 new towns across India as a part of the ongoing voluntary digitization process in order to be compliant with the DAS phase III digitisation deadline.

    Despite the flat QoQ ARPUs and higher subscription numbers, Siti Cable’s cable TV subscription revenue fell QoQ because the company had initiated strict measures against erring LCOs and had switched off signals to the extent of about four lakh cable TV consumers, as per industry sources.

    “During the quarter, we have further tightened our credit control measures and started taking strict actions against defaulting operators, which shall result into improved credit discipline and saving in operating cost,” revealed Wadhwa. A source told Indiantelevision.com that Siti Cable’s strict measures seem to have worked and signals have been resumed to the subscribers, but that it would take time to reflect the improved numbers in its financials.

    Ortel’s Rath added, “I am also pleased to share that over and above the 542,217 RGUs (revenue generating users) as on 30 June, 2015, we have signed buy out agreements with multiple LCOs with total estimated RGUs of 33,000, which would be integrated into Ortel’s last mile network going forward. So we remain on track and are confident of achieving our target of one million RGUs by March 2017 backed by our LCO buy out strategy and focus on organic growth both in broadband and cable TV.”

    Pay channel Costs

    Please refer to the figure below that represents the Cable TV costs paid by the four sample companies. 

    The big three reported a QoQ fall in pay channel costs, while in the case of Ortel, pay channel costs rose. This does not mean that a la carte has become a reality and the multi-system operators (MSOs) are only paying for what their subscribers are paying. It’s just that this quarter, balancing amounts have been paid to a broadcast aggregator, since excess payments had been made until Q4-2015. 

    Diverting from the performance for a bit, a source from an MSO says, “As a matter of fact, it’s the big broadcasters that are resisting a la carte. A la carte will affect their overall advertisement revenues for packaged deals across the multiple channels within their fold.”

    Internet subscription revenue

    This is one avenue that most cable companies are looking at as their business and revenue growth alternative. Internet ARPUs in India are much higher – to the extent of 3 to10 times the ARPUs from cable television. All the four sample players in this article reported YoY growth. The big three- Hathway, Den and Siti Cable also reported QoQ revenue growth, while Ortel’s internet subscription revenue remained flat. Higher subscription numbers, higher ARPUs brought in the accelerated revenue growth for Hathway, Den and Siti Cable. Typically, broadband ARPUs for the big three were in the range of Rs 750 in Q1-2016 as Rs against 650-700 in Q1-2015 and Rs 720-750 in the previous quarter.

    Among the four, Hathway with an initial higher internet subscriber base in excess of four lakh plus, reported a growth of 50,000 subscribers to bring its total subscriber numbers to 4.6 lakh in Q1-2016. Already its internet revenue subscription has a reasonably big share in its overall revenue pie. Comparatively, the other three have internet subscribers than number in just tens of thousands, though all have reported reasonable YoY and QoQ growth in subscribers.

    Ortel reported a slight depletion in ARPUs and hence the flat internet subscription revenue despite a higher QoQ subscriber base. Ortel’s broadband RGUs in the current quarter grew 4.1 per cent to 60,900 from 58,519 in Q4-2015. Ortel also launched up to 50 Mbps DOCSIS 3.0 Broadband Internet in Odisha. The company’s broadband ARPUs in the current quarter also declined by Re 1 to Rs 393 from Rs 394 in Q4-2015.

    End Points

    At present, most MSOs have two separate arrangements with broadcasters – one for Digital Addressable System (DAS) areas and another for non DAS areas. Recently the Essel Group that operates both carriage platforms – DTH though Dish TV as well cable TV through Siti Cable – formed a common entity called “COMNET” to help synergize strengths of both entities in dealing with broadcasters. Siti Cable says that the primary reason for forming this venture was to ensure that consumers have access to quality content at affordable prices. This move would assist in keeping content cost in consonance with consumer ARPUs and market realities. 

    Players across mature markets such as the US continue to report a fall in video subscribers – to that extent that most companies there have higher broadband subscribers than video subscribers. Such a scenario is not probable in the near future in India, but cable TV players do face competition from wireless internet players and mobile companies as well as from other devices as a mode of entertainment rather than the idiot box. Carriage or placement fees could continue as bargaining currency in the near future.

    Once a la carte becomes a reality, to some extent, one could infer that if the pay channel costs are down, it’s because subscribers have used the option, and not that the player has lost more subscribers than it gained. In theory, DAS has made it possible for carriers to pay broadcasters if and when the subscriber subscribes for pay channels. It now remains to be seen if the players in the industry allow the theory to be put into practice. Cable TV subscription revenues and ARPUs could fall if players don’t play it right.

    The response to the Hinduja’s HITS (headends in the sky) platform from local cable operators (LCOs) has been tremendous, if one were to go by initial reports. The DTH industry has started making inroads into DAS phase III and IV areas and could grab more than the 30 to 40 per cent of the subscribers that it did in phase I and phase II.

    As has been pointed out by industry experts, just the seeding of set top boxes (often non-BIS compliant STBs) does not mean implementation of DAS as it was truly meant to be. It can be safely reiterated that there’s a lot of work to be done by the industry.

  • Ortel to increase cable TV penetration, broadband with IPO funds

    Ortel to increase cable TV penetration, broadband with IPO funds

    MUMBAI: Odisha based last mile owner (LMO) Ortel Communications, which filed its Red Herring Prospectus (RHP) for a public issue on 21 February, has now announced the price band of Rs 181-Rs 200 per equity share.

     

    As reported first by Indiantelevision.com, the LMO will open the public issue of up to 12 million equity shares of face value of Rs 10 each including a share premium per equity share on 3 March. The issue comprises a fresh issue to the public of up to six million equity shares and an offer for sale up to six million equity shares by New Silk Route (NSR). The bid will close on 5 March.

     

    The minimum bid lot is 75 equity shares and in multiples of 75 equity shares thereafter. The issue constitutes 39.25 per cent of the fully diluted post-issue paid up equity share capital of the company.

     

    In a press conference, held in Mumbai on 24 February, the LMO said that the company and the selling shareholder may, in consultation with the Book Running Lead Manager, allocate up to 60 per cent of the QIB portion to anchor investors at the Anchor Investor Allocation Price, on a discretionary basis, out of which at least one-third will be available for allocation to domestic mutual funds only. Anchor investors can bid on 2 March.

     

    “The issue is being made through the Book Building Process in compliance with the provisions of Regulation 26(2) of the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Issue of Capital and Disclosure Requirements) Regulations, 2009, as amended, wherein at least 75 per cent of the issue shall be allotted on a proportionate basis to Qualified Institutional Buyers (QIB). In the event of under-subscription or non-allocation in the Anchor Investor Portion, the balance equity shares shall be added to the net QIB potion. Such number of equity shares representing five per cent of the net QIB portion shall be available for allocation on a proportionate basis to mutual funds only. The remainder of the net QIB portion shall be available for allocation on a proportionate basis to QIBs,” says the company release.

     

    “However, if the aggregate demand from mutual funds is less than 180,000 equity shares, that is five per cent of the net QIB portion, the balance equity shares available for allocation in the mutual fund portion will be added to the net QIB portion and allocated proportionately to QIBs in proportion to their bids. If 75 per cent of the issue cannot be allocated to QIBs, all the application monies will be refunded forthwith. Further, not more than 15 per cent of the issue shall be available for allocation on a proportionate basis to non-institutional bidders and not more than 10 per cent of the issue shall be available for the allocation to retail individual bidders, subject to valid bids being received from them at or above the issue price,” it further reads.

     

    Ortel Communications, through the IPO, is looking at strengthening its presence in the current four states, including Odisha, Chhattisgarh, West Bengal and Andhra Pradesh as well as expanding to other neighbouring regions. The LMO currently offers services in 48 towns with over 21,600 km of cable supported by 34 analogue and five digital headends.

     

    When asked about the reason for raising capital, Ortel Communications chairman BJ Panda said, “We have already gone for three rounds of private equity funding. Ours is a CAPEX heavy business. As we go forward, it is essential to have public presence. The time has come, when the company has some currency to scale up.”

     

    The revenue generated through the IPO will be used for:

     

       –  Deeper penetration: Ortel plans to expand its penetration in not only the existing markets, but also new geographies. “The plan is to grow the number of subscribers,” said Panda.

     

      –   Increasing penetration of digital TV: As the nation is moving towards digitisation, Ortel Communications currently has converted 20 per cent of analogue homes to digital homes. The revenue generated will be used at slowly increasing the number of digital homes.

     

       –  Increasing Broadband: Currently 11 per cent of Ortel’s total subscribers are broadband consumers. The aim now is to take this up. The LMO currently provides data services at a speed of up to 42.88 mbps through the use of cable modem with DOCSIS 2.0. “We are in the process of upgrading the modems to DOCSIS 3.0. This is currently being tested, and has the capacity of providing broadband at a speed of over 340 mbps,” informed Ortel Communications president and CEO Bibhu Prasad Rath.

     

      –  Expand: By buyout of local cable operators and networks. The company so far has entered into agreements with over 490 MSOs/LCOs between April 2009 to December 2014, resulting in an acquisition of 221,155 cable television subscribers.

     

      –   Leasing fibre infrastructure to corporates.

     

    As of 31 December, 2014, the company has 372,979 retail subscribers for analogue cable TV services, 95, 295 retail subscribers for our digital cable services and 58,277 broadband subscribers, including 121 corporate customers with provisioned bandwidth of 806 mbps adding up to 526,551 Revenue Generating Units (RGUs).

     

    For the six months period ending 30 September, 2014, the company’s total income was Rs 719.34 million and its PBDIT was Rs 252.39 million. In the same period, carriage and placement revenue contributed 17.11 per cent of the total revenues from operations. The trade receivables were at Rs 216.50 million i.e. 15.05 per cent of total income annualised, which according to the company, was substantially lower than other listed national MSOs.

  • IDOS 2014: ‘Customer is the King and not the Content’

    IDOS 2014: ‘Customer is the King and not the Content’

    GOA: Content is the king is a passé; in today’s world it is the customer which rules.

     

    Businesses across the world understand that involving their customers will help them innovate and provide better products and services. The same goes for the Indian cable television industry. The players believe that the core intention of digitisation was not just converting the analogue signal into digital one, but to offer choice to the customers.

     

     “One key element, which we all missed out in the phase I and II of digitisation is the customer, itself. Customer is the king and not the content. Customer decides whether ARPUs will go up or not. Hence, a methodology needs to be found by all the stakeholders,” said Hinduja Group MD and IMCL CEO Tony D’silva while adding that if  a customer wants broadband, VAS or cable, we have to give it to him/her as per the need.

     

    He was speaking at a panel discussion on ‘Digitisation: The phase III and phase IV Challenge’ held at IDOS 2014.

     

    Ortel Communication CEO BP Rath said that the core intention of digitisation was not to decrease the carriage fee but to increase the ARPUs. “The aim was to offer choice to the customers; those who want more services, will pay more or otherwise,” he said and added that he is happy with the delay in dates for digitisation in phase III and IV as the players would get more time to understand the needs of their clients.

     

    “It was inevitable. Most of the people sitting here don’t know what India is. The lessons are simple. Except for seeding boxes in phase I and II, nothing much has been done. Customers’ choice was not taken into consideration in earlier phases,” he said.

     

    Instead of taking the top-down approach, we should work from customers’ perspective and integrate those into our plans, suggested Rath.

     

    Speaking in the same tone, CSG International south Asia vice president Letchu Narayanan said that customer experience matters the most. The industry should shift focus to customer as it is a customer-driven industry.

     

    Essel Group’s Dish TV CEO RC Venkateish feels that in phase III and IV there is a need for regional and low price offerings in around 70-80 million cable TV homes, which are yet to be digitized. He said that even though the players have different models, customer addressability is the need of the hour.

     

    On the content and the challenges to be handled in phase III and IV, Venkateish said the DTH players are working on different packages as per the customers need. “The road for better revenue can be achieved if all solve the problem together,” he said.

     

    Talking about the Dish TV business model, he said India is a big market and there are different needs. The company reports around 55 per cent of its revenue from the mass as only 15-20 per cent customers go for HD channels. “It all depends on the purchasing power,” he said.

     

    Maharashtra Cable Operators Foundation (MCOF) president Arvind Prabhoo said the players are mulling to offer choices to customers by not only providing network, Wi-Fi but also ensuring that the up-gradation is done before the next rollout.

     

    Agreeing with others Sagar E-Technologies executive director Sudish Kumar further elaborated that by understanding the needs of the customers, the industry players can establish the market well. “Every cable TV home in our network will connected with internet. If a customer will get a taste of it then it will contribute to the ARPU. We might not charge for cable, at all,” he proposed.

     

    The public broadcaster, Doordarshan, also has the same opinion that customer has to play a key role in digitisation. Doordarshan deputy director general CK Jain said, “Doordarshan is trying to ensure that people, who can’t afford the subscription of cable and DTH, we will provide value to them.”

     

    Cable TV Operators Association (COA) president Nassir Hassan Anwar talking about the preference of the customers in the southern region of the country said the demand for Hindi channels among the customers is comparatively less hence, the packages are designed keeping that in mind.

     

    So, going forward if customers’ needs are addressed, cable digitisation in India offers huge opportunity for all the stakeholders.

     

  • TRAI orders MSOs to deliver RIOs; tariff packages

    TRAI orders MSOs to deliver RIOs; tariff packages

    MUMBAI: The fear of Friday the thirteenth seems to be coming true for registered multi system operators (MSOs) as the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has come out with two different directions for them today. And it has warned them that it is time for the stakeholders to buck up and act fast.

    The first direction issued today gives 118 registered MSOs just 10 days to submit their interconnection agreements entered with the broadcasters for re-transmission of channels on their cable networks in the Digital Addressable System (DAS) notified areas. Another direction, gives them seven days to submit the details of tariff packages along with the terms and conditions for supply and installation of the set top box (STB) to their subscribers.

    Of the 118 MSOs, a few well-known names that feature in the list are: Siti Cable Network, Seven Star Dot Com, Sagar E Technologies, Ortel Communication, Manthan Broadband, JAK Communications, IMCL, Hathway Cable & Datacom and Den Networks amongst others.

    “Every MSO, according to the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India Act, 1997 (24 of 1997) and regulation 5, 8 & 9 of the Telecommunication (Broadcasting and Cable Services) Interconnection (Digital Addressable Cable Television Systems) Regulation, 2012 (No. 9 of 2012), is required to have such interconnection agreement in DAS areas,” states the TRAI direction regarding interconnect agreement.

    According to regulation 5, it is mandatory for pay channel broadcasters to reduce the terms and conditions of the interconnection agreement into writing and deprive MSOs of their TV channel signals if no interconnect agreement is signed. Also, as per regulation 9, MSOs need to submit their interconnect agreement within the specified period to the authority.

    The TRAI direction had earlier said: “Every existing MSO shall submit to the authority by 31 July, 2012, all interconnect agreements entered into and amendments made therein prior to the date of notification of these regulations.”

    Regulation 8 gives power to the authority to intervene, inter alia, to protect the interest of the consumer and service provider. “The authority may, in order to protect the interest of the consumer or service provider or to promote and ensure orderly growth of the broadcasting and cable sector or for monitoring and ensuring compliance of these regulations, by order or direction, intervene, from time to time,” says the TRAI direction.

    With none of the MSOs so far caring to submit the tariff packages along with terms and conditions for supply and installations of STBs to their subscribers despite being ordered to do so under the Telecommunication (Broadcasting and Cable) Services (fifth) (Digital Addressable Cable TV Systems) Tariff Order, 2013 (No. 1 of 2013) issued on 27 May, the regulator has now cracked the whip on them to follow it and submit the packages within seven days from today. 

     
    It is to be noted that clause 5 of the tariff order states that every MSO has to report to the authority by 15 June 2013, the details of all the tariff packages and other terms and conditions for supply and installation of the STBs. According to this order, “Any change in the tariff package reported under sub-clause (1) and the introduction of a new tariff package for supply and installation of STB shall be reported to the authority at least seven days prior to such change or introduction, as the case may be.”