ITV

Tag: S Ravindran

  • Broadband Pacenet to enter HITS arena

    MUMBAI: After Zee Tele, Broadband Pacenet becomes the next Indian company to apply for a HITS license.
    Multi-system operator (MSO) Broadband Pacenet India (BPI) which recently launched sophisticated indigenous set top boxes that include features like peoplemeters and ethernet output to enable Internet surfing, has asked for three transponders on the Insat 3 C satellite, with an option open for two more transponders. 
    According to Broadband Pacenet India CEO S Ravindran, the company is aiming to become ‘primarily a HITS player’ in India. For ZTL, which has thus far been the only player in the arena, this spells serious competition. Ravindran was speaking on the sidelines of the National CAS Media Summit, organised by Indiantelevision.com in Mumbai on Friday.
    To be implemented by the company’s cable arm Siti Cable, the Subhash Chandra-promoted Zee Telefilms, Rs 4,000 million have already been invested by the various Chandra companies in the HITS and DTH facility, Zee is also actively proposing to offer dealers (cable ops) up to 40 per cent of the distribution margin as an incentive.
    BPI meanwhile is the new entrant that could could give Zee some real competition. It is already forged an alliance with a consortium of 12 international promoters who are in the process of launching a smart card based payment mode for cable consumers and others who wish to avail of the service. 
    BPI is promoted by veterans of the cable trade – Jagjit Singh Kohli (chairman of BPI and director of ETC Networks) and S Ravindran (BPI CEO).

  • Excise duty cut on STBs bring little cheer to local manufacturers

    Excise duty cut on STBs bring little cheer to local manufacturers

    MUMBAI: The finance ministry’s decision to notify a reduction in customs duty from 25 per cent to 5 per cent on key components of a set-top box — tuners, remote control units and RF-modulators – in addition to abolishing excise duty on set-top boxes (STBs) has upset local manufacturers. There is a feeling that locals who make these items for television and perhaps telecom equipment will be hit because imports of these components will be cheaper than local manufacture, in the absence of countervailing duty on the import.
     

    Broadband Pacenet (India) CEO S Ravindran reacts by saying: “Considering the estimated demand of 40 million boxes, the only way the government can give a boost to the local Indian industry is if the IPR for the design of the box and CAS is held in India. Otherwise, import is cheaper and the government will only play into the hands of foreign manufacturers. The moot point is that the box and CAS are integral units – that is why STBs can be rented (avoiding sales tax) because the box is part of the plant controlled by CAS.”
     

    Experts are also critical of the fact that the ministry has not exempted the key components from excise duty. Sanjiv Narayan, president, Electronics Component Industry Association (Elcina), was quoted in a leading business daily as saying that if the components manufactured locally carry a 16 per cent excise duty but there is no excise duty on a finished STB, there is no set off for the manufacturer and the value-addition chain is broken.

    HTMT group director and CTO KV Seshasayee says that the situation will not be clear until notiifcation comes through. “There is no excise duty if these items are imported – the components are not sold to customers. Presently these componenets are not made in India. ELCINA should be able to get clarification from the Ministry that if they supply these items locally, the STB manufacturer should be able to claim drawback on this, or the tuner manufacturer should be excise exempt when delivering to STB vendor. The remote control units are already made in India, and costs are comparable,” he adds.

    Seshasayee also adds: “These are operational matters which component manufacturers have to work out with government. We as MSOs can help in the process.”

    Broadband’s Ravindran also feels that the government’s strategy is anti-consumer. “The royalty on CAS can be calculated at $10/box and smart cards are replaced every year and cost $4. These will be continuous outflows and the subscriber will have to bear this cost. Certainly the government is not endeavouring to make it consumer friendly as other countries have done. In China, the government has made Chinacrypt as standard–so consumer gets flexibility and the government gets security. “

    According to industry sources, manufacturers in China are able to supply globally because domestic policy allows them to manufacture locally for exports as well as domestic consumption.

    Asked to comment on the government’s latest effort to get STBs moving in the market and the reaction of local manufacturers, HTMT group director and CTO KV Seshasayee said the situation would only be clear after the government notification came through.

    He however made two points. The first being that there is no excise duty if these items are imported (the components are not sold to customers).

    And referring specifically to the complaints made by local manufactuerers, Seshasayee said, “Presently these componenets are not made in India. Elcina should be able to get a clarification from the ministry that if they supply these items locally, the STB manufacturer should be able to claim a drawback on this, or the tuner manufacturer should be excise exempt when delivering to STB vendor. Remote control units are already made in India, and costs are comparable.”

  • MagnaQuest to manage post-CAS operations of BroadBand Pacenet

    MagnaQuest to manage post-CAS operations of BroadBand Pacenet

    MUMBAI: Global Customer Management & Billing (CM&B) solutions provider MagnaQuest Solution has been chosen to provide its subscriber management system (SMS), MQSubscribe, to BroadBand Pacenet.

     
    MagnaQuest Solutions delivers solutions to organisations providing data, video and content services.

    BroadBand Pacenet is a newly formed multi-system operator (MSO) set up by the promoters of Win Cable (now a 100 per cent subsidiary of Rajen Raheja’s Hathway cable and Datacom). It plans launching Pay TV services initially on the terrestrial platform and later on moving to the HITS platform as and when the regulatory environment is clear.

    Director, BroadBand Pacenet Jagjit Singh Kohli said, “We will stand out in the market place in the post-CAS regime after 15 July, with our open CAS initiative and the indigenously designed set top box. By selecting a competitive domestic SMS solution provider, MagnaQuest, who understand the Indian pay TV scenario and have a global quality solution, we are confident of receiving good support.”

    BroadBand Pacenet CEO S Ravindran said, “Secura – our Open CAS system is based on international security standards such as DES, AES and RSA – which coupled with Home Genie, our set top box, brings affordable yet safe programming to the subscriber. We also look to MagnaQuest to supplement our efforts in our Payment Gateway initiative with their proven expertise in system integration and smart-card based applications as well.”

  • Pacenet moots open connectivity deals between LMOs, MSOs

    Pacenet moots open connectivity deals between LMOs, MSOs

    MUMBAI: The implementation of the conditional access system (CAS) rollout could have created several opportunities for the cable trade and made life easier for the consumers.
     

    Certain fallouts of the current policies could have been avoided and these issues affecting the Indian consumer and entrepreneur has been totally ignored by the decision makers. Consider two examples: As per the current CAS guidelines, consumers who shift their houses have to surrender their set top boxes (STBs) if they move to an area that is serviced by another multi system operator (MSO). Secondly, the government has wasted a wonderful opportunity to give a stimulus to local manufacturers who could indigenously manufacture set top boxes (STBs) and sell them in the global markets.

    At a CAS seminar organised by ETC Networks in Mumbai, Broadband Pacenet India CEO S Ravindran and chairman Jagjit Singh Kohli (also ETC Networks director) stated that these problems could have been averted and newer opportunities could have been created by adopting remedial measures.

    BPI CEO S Ravindran explains: “The government should have allowed open source or open standards rather than permitting MSOs to have proprietary technology in the set top boxes. Rather than treating it merely as a box, the government should have treated it as an appliance. Due to this fallacy, it is possible that CAS might not spread as fast as the Internet did!”

    Experts say that governments have some reservations about open architecture. Consider the recent example wherein it was alleged that broadcaster Al Jazeera was sending hidden cryptic messages to terrorist networks. Ravindran argues: “Agreed that the government had some issues about open end architecture. But If you allow free import of hardware, you should also allow open source and open standards. Linux has become so popular due to its open-ended nature. When China adopted CAS some years back, it asked the CAS solution providers and encryption companies to open up. This was the origin of China crypt.”

    Ravindran also opines: “There was a great opportunity for local manufacturers to indigenously manufacture STBs with open source or open standards and sell them in the world markets. However, most of the boxes that come in will be containing technology that has become outdated in many developed countries. India will become a dumping ground for boxes that have been discarded by those countries.” Ravindran says that several Indian MSOs have fallen prey to the nexus of the major CAS companies (Nagravision, Conax, Canal Plus, Iredeto, NDS and Viax) who support the major headend providers (Harmonic, Scopus, Motorola and Scientific Atlanta) and the five-six major subscriber management system (SMS) providers.

    In the US, several households still own set top boxes that had been created many years back. The recent computer revolution has rendered several boxes redundant and outdated and the consumers in the US have been looking for contemporary replacements.

    Ravindran adds: “Indian MSOs have partnered foreign companies that are hand in glove and the boxes that will enter India will be plain vanilla entry level low-end boxes. The Indian consumer shouldn’t be made to pay for outdated technology. None of these above mentioned companies offer guarantees against hacking. If the MSO wants any changes or replacements, this nexus will ensure that the MSO will have to pay each link in the CAS chain. The MSOs will eventually have to pass on the brunt to the consumers.”

    Experts say that several Indian MSOs have paid the encryption companies something like: a one time fee of $2.5 million; $ 3 per smart card; and $10 royalty. All these costs will be eventually passed on to the Indian consumers who opt to buy STBs.

    Ravindran goes on to add: “Pacenet is the only company to produce and supply Indian made STBs. Our ‘home genies’ will have elements such as RSA 1024-bit; DES (Digital Encryption System) and AES (advanced encryption systems); with peoplemeter facilities. We have plans to get these STBs certified by companies such as Business Proton and Tata Consultancy Services and then sell them in the global markets.” He adds that the Pacenet boxes will have the ability to provide value added services and can be upgraded at low costs and will also offer exchange facilities that several other MSOs have promised.

    Kohli adds to the argument by saying that the government should also have allowed last mile operators (LMOs) to obtain feeds from different MSOs at the same time. “The need of the hour is open connectivity agreements between the LMOs with the MSOs; and open content distribution deals between the MSOs and the broadcasters,” Kohli points out.

    While speaking to indiantelevision, Kohli emphatically stated: “The media has carried a lot of rubbish and has blown up irrelevant issues because the journalists have been speaking to the same group of people over and over again. Real issues pertaining to the technology and business aspects of CAS have been totally ignored.”

    Are the various affected parties listening?