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Tag: PTI

  • TRAI to review terms for captive VSAT licences

    TRAI to review terms for captive VSAT licences

    MUMBAI: Telecom regulatory authority TRAI has started a comprehensive review of various fee and charges related to captive VSAT (very small aperture terminal) licences, including entry fee, licence fee, bank guarantee and royalty charges.

    VSAT, a satellite communication technology, is useful for remote and inaccessible locations which lack proper terrestrial connectivity, PTI has reported.

    The consultation paper “Captive VSAT CUG (Closed User Group) policy issues” also seeks to remove the difference in licence fee for operating two hubs (earth stations that control and monitor activities of remote terminals).

    “Is there a need to review some or all of the fee or charges viz. Entry fee, licence fee, royalty charges and bank guarantee etc. For captive VSAT CUG licenses…If yes, what should be the appropriate fee or charges,” TRAI asked in the consultation paper.

    ‘Captive VSAT Licence’ refers to licence for those networks in which the equipment and facilities are owned and operated by the licensee itself for its own use under one Closed User Group (CUG). The Captive VSATs are deployed by commercial organisations like National Thermal Power Corporation, Oil and Natural Gas Corporation, as well as government bodies to cater to their own requirement and applications.

    The TRAI paper has also sought industry views on whether licence fee for a second VSAT hub, (being used independently or for redundancy purposes) should be the same as the first VSAT hub, and also the quantum of per annum fee for the second hub. The deadline for sending written comments is November 25, 2016.

    At present, the licence fee stands at Rs 10,000 per annum per VSAT earth stations installed, in case of the first hub. But in case the licensee wants to put second hub for geographical redundancy or, say, operational diversity and if that second hub station remains commissioned, a minimum license fee of Rs 16 Lakh per annum for up to 100 captive VSATs is applicable in addition to the license fee payable for the first hub.

    “…Due to such a huge difference in the license fee, a licensee is discouraged in installing a second hub…Even though their operations demand so for maintaining a hot standby,” TRAI said.

    TRAI has also asked if the captive VSAT categories should be split into Government oganisations and departments handling important missions, and commercial organisations.

    It also sought industry’s opinion on the entry fee, licence fee and royalty charges for the two categories, if separated, and whether the proposed rates for not for profit government organizations should be at a discount compared to business organisations.

  • Prasar Bharati CEO Jawhar Sircar officially seeks early retirement

    Prasar Bharati CEO Jawhar Sircar officially seeks early retirement

    MUMBAI: Prasar Bharati CEO Jawhar Sircar has been known to not pull any punches. Last month, he had expressed his desire to resign from his post to the media as he was not getting anywhere with the organisaton and neither was Prasar Bharati. Now, he has written to the ministry of information & broadcasting secretary (MIB) Ajay Mittal stating that he would like to resign prematurely from 4 November, says a PTI report.

    He has also written to I&B minister Venkaiah Naidu, expressing his desire to resign from his position post-Diwali – that is after 30 October. The report goes on to state that he would like to relocate to Kolkata.

    Sircar was yanked out of his position as secretary, culture, and installed as the Prasar Bharati CEO by an eminent panel led by the then Indian vice-president and a Supreme Court judge during the UPA government’s tenure in 2012. He serves as the vice-president of the Asia Pacific Broadcasting Union, which is a club of broadcasters from 67 countries. He has also had two short stints MIB secretary during his career.

  • Prasar Bharati CEO Jawhar Sircar officially seeks early retirement

    Prasar Bharati CEO Jawhar Sircar officially seeks early retirement

    MUMBAI: Prasar Bharati CEO Jawhar Sircar has been known to not pull any punches. Last month, he had expressed his desire to resign from his post to the media as he was not getting anywhere with the organisaton and neither was Prasar Bharati. Now, he has written to the ministry of information & broadcasting secretary (MIB) Ajay Mittal stating that he would like to resign prematurely from 4 November, says a PTI report.

    He has also written to I&B minister Venkaiah Naidu, expressing his desire to resign from his position post-Diwali – that is after 30 October. The report goes on to state that he would like to relocate to Kolkata.

    Sircar was yanked out of his position as secretary, culture, and installed as the Prasar Bharati CEO by an eminent panel led by the then Indian vice-president and a Supreme Court judge during the UPA government’s tenure in 2012. He serves as the vice-president of the Asia Pacific Broadcasting Union, which is a club of broadcasters from 67 countries. He has also had two short stints MIB secretary during his career.

  • Pepsi’s withdrawal ‘no big issue’: IPL chairman Rajiv Shukla

    Pepsi’s withdrawal ‘no big issue’: IPL chairman Rajiv Shukla

    MUMBAI: PepsiCo’s notice to BCCI to withdraw its sponsorship from the Indian Premier League’s (IPL) next leg has come as yet another setback to India’s most popular cricketing event.

     

    However, a source close to the development informs Indiantelevision.com, “Pepsi’s exit will have no negative impact on the brand value of the tournament and the board is confident of having a new sponsor way before the start of the next season.”

     

    IPL chairman Rajiv Shukla was quoted by PTI as saying, “We are in talks with other sponsors as well, so the title deal with Pepsi is not that big an issue. They have certain points and we are going to settle them amicably in the next meeting, They have been very good partners all this while and we do not want to disturb our relationship with them. Whatever is going to happen is going to happen in a very smooth manner.”

     

    Shukla further added, “Pepsi wants to end the deal due to its drenching foreign interests. They have shown a willingness to move out of the deal from this season because of their own interests and not because of disrepute and stuff. So they may not continue as the main sponsor.”

     

    The beverage giant wants to walk out of the five-year title contract, which due to expire in 2017, because of the cash-rich league’s incurring controversies.

     

    PepsiCo had paid Rs 396 crore ($71.77 million) from the 2013 – 2017 period. The BCCI will take up the matter during its working committee meeting in Mumbai on 18 October.

  • COAI gets a new core member in Reliance Jio Infocomm

    COAI gets a new core member in Reliance Jio Infocomm

    MUMBAI:  In a new addition to the core members of Cellular Operators’ Association of India (COAI), Mukesh Ambani owned Reliance Jio Infocomm Limited (RJIL) has joined telecom industry body, reported PTI. With this, its core members have risen to seven.

     

    After being at loggerheads regarding spectrum allocation issues, COAI and RJIL have finally put their problems behind and joined hands. This move precedes RJIL’s pan-India rollout of 4G services next year. The company holds pan India broadband wireless access spectrum that can be used for 4G services.

     

    Prior to RJIL joining the association, COAI had six core members — Bharti Airtel, Vodafone India, Idea Cellular, Aircel, Unitech Wireless (now Telewings Communications) and Videocon Communications (now Videocon Telecom).

     

    Talking about the new member, COAI’s director general Rajan S Mathews said, “We are delighted that Reliance Jio Infocomm has joined us in our common endeavour to roll out innovative and affordable mobile broadband services to the citizens of India.”

     

    COAI represents mobile service providers, telecom equipment manufacturers and other communication services and product companies in India. Members of the telecom body jointly have about 68 percent of subscribers and around 71 percent of revenue share in the market.

     

    Besides its core members, it also has 12 associate members. COAI has opened the associate membership to social media companies like Facebook. Other associate members include Alcatel-Lucent India, Cisco Systems India, Ericsson India, IBM India, GTL Infrastructure, Huawei Technologies, Indus Towers, Intel Corporation, Nokia Networks, Qualcomm India and ZTE India.

     

    Corroborating the news, RJIL’s managing director, Sandip Das said, “We are pleased to join the COAI, where along with other operators, we hope to create an operating environment that will help us realise this ambition for all Indians as an industry, in the overall context of our nation’s development.”

     

    In addition to fixed and wireless broadband connectivity, RJIL also plans to provide various digital services in key domains such as education, healthcare, security, financial services, government-citizen interfaces and entertainment. In the past, the company has also entered into agreements with telecom companies including COAI member Bharti Airtel and its mobile tower arm Bharti Infratel.

  • Private labels coming soon on Jabong

    Private labels coming soon on Jabong

    MUMBAI: As the e-commerce wars continue, online fashion retailer Jabong.com is all ready to jump in. According to PTI report, the company is planning to launch private label brands in the next 4-5 months.

     

    Talking to PTI, Jabong.com’s founder and CEO Arun Chandra Mohan said,  “We are setting up a full-fledged design team in London because we also want to create our own brands that provide good, fast, western fashion to the Indian consumers. We are in the final stages of setting up a top end design studio in London. It will be a team of the best fashion companies in the world that are going to be focusing only on creating the design. There is an immense opportunity to develop our own brands.”

     

    Jabong.com sells over 1,500 brands like Adidas, Puma, Levi’s, Converse, Proline, Nike among others. It also has apparels from leading fashion designers.

     

    Mohan added, “About 55-60 per cent of the company’s revenue comes from tier II and III cities. There are not enough malls in the smaller cities, which makes it conducive for people to shop online. We are growing at 10-15 per cent month on month. We are doing sales of about $30 million a month.”

     

    Commenting on the increasing e-commerce market in India, Mohan said that India is at an inflection point, where China was nearly three-four years ago.

     

    Jabong has also invested heavily on its mobile app because nearly 50 per cent of people are accessing internet through their mobile phones and that brings about 30 per cent revenue to the company.

  • Colors gets notice for Bigg Boss 7

    Colors gets notice for Bigg Boss 7

    MUMBAI: The popular reality show Bigg Boss, now in its seventh season, has landed into trouble, weeks after its launch. A show cause notice has been served by the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting regarding the content that has been aired on the channel Colors saying that it was not appropriate for unrestricted public exhibition.

     

    The objections raised are on episodes where concern was raised regarding the language used by some contestants as well as the scene where participants are seated in a chair and given electric shocks. The source told PTI that these scenes violate the programming code under the cable TV act.

     

    The channel, Colors, has been asked to explain itself. Bigg Boss is currently one of Colors’ flagship shows and it claims to have molded it to suit a family audience. Previously also the channel has got into trouble due to Bigg Boss’ content.

     

    Bigg Boss is created by Endemol for the channel Colors, an adaptation of the popular international reality show Big Brother. In its seventh season, this year the show is themed around ‘Heaven and Hell’ where participants are in two houses – one themed around heaven and the other themed around hell.

  • Trai seeks clarity from MIB on its powers to act against ad duration violation

    NEW DELHI: The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) which had last year issued regulations relating to advertisement time on television channels has now sought clarity from the Information and Broadcasting Ministry on its powers in acting against violators.

    Upset over inaction on complaints against broadcasters, Trai wants to know if it is empowered to enforce rules on duration and format of TV advertisements if it wants to avoid possible “embarrassment” and litigation.

    According to newswire PTI, Trai has written a letter to the I&B ministry in this regard, noting that “broadcasters continue to breach the rules repeatedly.

    “Movies screened on entertainment channels that should, at best, last for three hours (for two and half hour film) easily stretch to four or more hours,” the letter noted.

    “This has led to a groundswell of public opinion against the blatant violation of the rules and, more importantly, against the perceived inaction by the government in terms of enforcement of the rules,” the letter said.

    Referring to a sample report provided to it by the Ministry, Trai noted that there has been substantial number of complaints reported to the Ministry regarding violations of the advertising code with respect to the duration and format of advertisements.

    “The report provided by Ministry, leads the Authority to observe that, so far, almost none of the reported violations to it have culminated in any tangible action against the respective service providers,” the Trai letter was quoted as saying by the sources.

    From sample report, Trai has observed that popular entertainment programmes consistently have advertising breaks well in excess of the 12 minutes per hour limit imposed in the rules.

    Trai had issued standards for Quality of Service on duration of advertisement in television channels in May 2012. The regulation has been challenged by broadcasters in Telecom Disputes Settlement and Appellate Tribunal (Tdsat) and jurisdiction of Trai to issue such regulation has been raised in the case.

  • Haasan approaches CCI in Vishwaroopam release row

    Haasan approaches CCI in Vishwaroopam release row

    MUMBAI: Actor and film maker Kamal Haasan has moved the Competition Commission of India (CCI) against certain theatre associations. Haasan alleged that these bodies restricted the release of his film Vishwaroopam report the Press Trust of India.

    A senior official from CCI told PTI, “”We have received a complaint from Kamal Haasan (related to Vishwaroopam)…We are likely to take a call on the issue next week.” The complaint has been filed by Haasan‘s production house Rajkamal Films International.

    Meanwhile, Haasan has virtually ruled out the premiere of his film Vishwaroopam on the Direct-to-Home (DTH) platform ahead of its release in theatres. He has reportedly admitted a ‘change of mind‘ on proceeding with his controversial decision that had met with stiff resistance from a section of exhibitors.

    “I have changed my mind on having the premiere (on DTH platform ahead of releasing it in theatres). I will discuss (with DTH partners) on how close or far to release date (will be a DTH show),” he said.

    Hassan observed that he had taken into account suggestions from many to consider the ‘good health‘ of Tamil cinema industry before going ahead with his decision.

    “Many had requested me to take into consideration the good health of the industry and proceed with DTH. It is my primary duty to make it happen,” he said after consulting with exhibitors and theatre owners here.

    He also said that talks were on with DTH players on the issue but declined to divulge on the matter. “They have been kind to me. Will say later when the film will come on DTH,” he said.

    Haasan said the film will be released in Tamil and Telugu on 25 January as announced earlier but its Hindi release will be finalized only after further talks with industry associates.

    The tech-savvy actor-filmmaker‘s decision to have a premiere of his much anticipated trilingual action film on DTH caused ripples in the multi-million rupee Tamil cinema industry, with a section of theatre owners deciding to boycott the film.

  • I&B asks news channels to avoid re-runs of Mumbai terror attack

    I&B asks news channels to avoid re-runs of Mumbai terror attack

    MUMBAI: The information and broadcasting (I&B) ministry has directed news channels not to broadcast any scene of the Mumbai terror attack as it may evoke strong sentiments among those affected by it.

    “Gory scenes should not be shown, tragedy should not be replayed. Media has a great role to play to ensure return of normalcy,” PTI quotes the I&B ministry as saying in its advisory.

    Explaining the kind of coverage sought by the ministry, the advisory stated: “News coverage pertaining to the event should project that India is not demoralised and has risen despite all terrorist attacks as normalcy has been restored. News coverage should project that India is a global power which has full support of the international community.”

    Earlier, the government had issued an advisory to all private news channels to exercise restraint while airing news related to Mumbai terror attacks and its subsequent developments.

    The advisory also mentioned that media is a harbinger of peace and normalcy and should not promote “insecurity”. The official note from the ministry carries a strong message for the media to adhere to self-regulation.