ITV

Tag: STB

  • DD notifies tenders for FreeDish MPEG4 STBs

    DD notifies tenders for FreeDish MPEG4 STBs

    NEW DELHI: Tenders submitted for set top boxes suitable for MPEG4 upgradation of the country’s only free-to-air direct-to-home platform DD FreeDish will be opened on 25 October 2016.

    In an announcement, the Indian pubcaster Doordarshan said that original equipment manufacturers filing tenders for this purpose would have to be DD authorized OEMs to sell DD approved Indian conditional access system (iCAS) and firmware/middleware-enabled boxes. 

    Those applying would have to buy the form for Rs 10,000 and then give earnest money for Rs 1 million and deliver the STBs within a period of three months.

    A DD official, who did not want to be named, said it was clear that DD will not be paying any money to those who are found suitable but will only approve their bids in accordance with the parameters set for suitability of the STBs. The earnest money was only aimed at getting genuine manufacturers, he added.

    India is expected to have 173 million paid cable and satellite home in India by the beginning of next year and the official added that the exact number of FreeDish subscribers would be known when the Indian Conditional Access System (iCAS) system becomes fully operational. Since any individual can buy a FreeDish antenna and set it atop his house, it is difficult to indicate the number of subscribers.

    A pre-bid conference would be held on 3 October 2016.

    The application form, including technical and financial details, can be downloaded from website www.tenderwizard.com/PB. E-application notice is also available on Doordarshan website www.ddindia.gov.in using the link tender notice (engineering) or from eprocure.gov.in/cppp.

    Earlier, indiiantelevision.com had reported that FreeDish had plans to add 24 new channels, increasing the number from 80 to 104.

    The platform has space for 80 channels altogether, including its own channels and Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha TV along with 24 All India Radio channels.

    Sources told indiantelevision.com that FreeDish is being encrypted through iCAS to keep a tab on the number of subscribers, but it would remain free-to-air.

    Also read: Free Dish capacity to go up from 80 to 104 TV channels before year-end

     

  • India lucrative market for 4K UHD STBs: Grand View Research

    India lucrative market for 4K UHD STBs: Grand View Research

    MUMBAI: Here’s a view on the demand for 4K or ultra high definition (UHD) set-top boxes (STBs) in India.

    American research firm Grand View Research Inc has forecast in a new report that India is “poised to emerge as a lucrative market for UHD STBs with the country expected to witness a CAGR substantially higher than the regional (Asia Pacific) average. Several DTH operators such as Tata Sky, Videocon, and Airtel have launched UHD STBs and are attempting to achieve a higher rural penetration with affordable regional packages.”

    The report says that the APAC 4K STB market was valued at just over $50 million in 2015 and will witness a high growth over the next eight years with India leading the charge.

    The Grand View Research Inc analysis states that the global 4K STB market size is projected to reach $7.18 billion by 2024. The growing inclination of the global public towards UHD video viewing can be attributed as the major reason for the 4K STB market growth.

    The demand for media-rich home entertainment services among consumers is increasing and is anticipated to fuel market growth. The growth is further fostered by favourable government initiatives, large-scale digitization programs, and mandatory installation of set-top boxes. Improved standard of living owing to increased purchasing power is positively impacting the industry growth.

    The initiatives undertaken by the Federal Communications Commission for supporting third-party STB manufacturers is paving the way for the expansion of the Ultra High-Definition (UHD) STB industry. The market is anticipated to gain traction in Asia Pacific owing to the strong presence of low-cost set-top box manufacturers, especially in countries such as Korea, Taiwan, and China.

    The increasing penetration of 3D and 4K TVs and escalating demand for large screen displays are fuelling the demand for UHD STBs. Smart features such as STB operability through voice commands given by remote control unit (RCU) is garnering high potential. The computational capabilities of STBs in combination with the advent of quality standards to satiate growing customer expectations have culminated in the STB market growth.

    Further key findings suggest:

    Internet Protocol Television (IPTV) 4K STBs accounted for over 20 per cent of the market share in 2015 and are expected to witness considerable growth over the forecast period. Increasing broadband penetration can be attributed as the major reason for the rise in the market share of IPTV 4K Set-top Box devices.

    The IPTV STB product segment is projected to gain traction owing to benefits such as integration of TV, PC, home phone, and wireless devices offering a high quality of viewing experience to the end-users.

    Key industry participants include ZTE Corporation, SAGEMCOM, Arion Technology, Roku, and Infomir. Manufacturers are emphasizing on UHD STBs incorporated with interactive 4K content to gain a competitive edge in the industry.

    Technology giants such as Apple have managed to make their mark in this competitive industry. The Apple TV device aids the streaming of (Over-The-Top) OTT content and other videos over the internet. The launch of advanced OTT devices such as Google Chromecast media streaming device and Amazon’s Fire TV STBs have opened up new avenues in the industry

  • India lucrative market for 4K UHD STBs: Grand View Research

    India lucrative market for 4K UHD STBs: Grand View Research

    MUMBAI: Here’s a view on the demand for 4K or ultra high definition (UHD) set-top boxes (STBs) in India.

    American research firm Grand View Research Inc has forecast in a new report that India is “poised to emerge as a lucrative market for UHD STBs with the country expected to witness a CAGR substantially higher than the regional (Asia Pacific) average. Several DTH operators such as Tata Sky, Videocon, and Airtel have launched UHD STBs and are attempting to achieve a higher rural penetration with affordable regional packages.”

    The report says that the APAC 4K STB market was valued at just over $50 million in 2015 and will witness a high growth over the next eight years with India leading the charge.

    The Grand View Research Inc analysis states that the global 4K STB market size is projected to reach $7.18 billion by 2024. The growing inclination of the global public towards UHD video viewing can be attributed as the major reason for the 4K STB market growth.

    The demand for media-rich home entertainment services among consumers is increasing and is anticipated to fuel market growth. The growth is further fostered by favourable government initiatives, large-scale digitization programs, and mandatory installation of set-top boxes. Improved standard of living owing to increased purchasing power is positively impacting the industry growth.

    The initiatives undertaken by the Federal Communications Commission for supporting third-party STB manufacturers is paving the way for the expansion of the Ultra High-Definition (UHD) STB industry. The market is anticipated to gain traction in Asia Pacific owing to the strong presence of low-cost set-top box manufacturers, especially in countries such as Korea, Taiwan, and China.

    The increasing penetration of 3D and 4K TVs and escalating demand for large screen displays are fuelling the demand for UHD STBs. Smart features such as STB operability through voice commands given by remote control unit (RCU) is garnering high potential. The computational capabilities of STBs in combination with the advent of quality standards to satiate growing customer expectations have culminated in the STB market growth.

    Further key findings suggest:

    Internet Protocol Television (IPTV) 4K STBs accounted for over 20 per cent of the market share in 2015 and are expected to witness considerable growth over the forecast period. Increasing broadband penetration can be attributed as the major reason for the rise in the market share of IPTV 4K Set-top Box devices.

    The IPTV STB product segment is projected to gain traction owing to benefits such as integration of TV, PC, home phone, and wireless devices offering a high quality of viewing experience to the end-users.

    Key industry participants include ZTE Corporation, SAGEMCOM, Arion Technology, Roku, and Infomir. Manufacturers are emphasizing on UHD STBs incorporated with interactive 4K content to gain a competitive edge in the industry.

    Technology giants such as Apple have managed to make their mark in this competitive industry. The Apple TV device aids the streaming of (Over-The-Top) OTT content and other videos over the internet. The launch of advanced OTT devices such as Google Chromecast media streaming device and Amazon’s Fire TV STBs have opened up new avenues in the industry

  • MSOs urged to buy domestic set top boxes as there is no shortage

    MSOs urged to buy domestic set top boxes as there is no shortage

    NEW DELHI: Reiterating that there was no scarcity of digitally addressable set top boxes and the cut-off date of the final phase was fast approaching, Information and Broadcasting Additional Secretary Jayashree Mukherjee has urged multi system and local cable operators to place orders with domestic manufacturers.

    She has also also said that the broadcasters should develop their own AV Spots and start using these by 30 Septemberr 2016 and start a scroll on their channels to mount publicity campaign about digital addressable system.

    Chairing the 17th meeting of the DAS Task Force, Mukherjee agreed with a suggestion that an advisory may be issued by the Ministry to all MSOs to carry public awareness campaign on their local channels also.

    She said considering that the cut-off date of 31 December 2016 was fast approaching, the State Nodal Officers were requested to take help of the Assistant project Directors of Regional Units to implement complete digitization in their States and carry out regular monitoring of the progress at the State as well as District level, preferably on weekly basis.

    She said the schedule of the meeting planned at State level may be sent to the Ministry so that if required, the Ministry’s representative can also be present in some of these meetings.

    She also felt that the Ministry should regularly release Press Notes/Press Releases on the status of Cable TV Digitization.

    At the meeting held on 31 August 2016, Mukherjee, representatives of Telangana, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Haryana, Jammu and Kashmir, Karnataka, Jharkhand, Punjab, Bihar, Rajasthan and West Bengal gave details of the progress of implementation of digitization in phase lll and measures being undertaken by them to implement the last phase of digitization in their respective States.

    Almost all of them said they were holding regular meetings to monitor the progress and are trying to resolve the issues with stakeholders in order to achieve the target of compfete digitization by the cut-off date.

    However, the Chairperson observed that more action was required to be taken by the Nodal Officers of UP, Bihar and Karnataka.

    Considering that there were around 6000 MSOs operating in the country but only about 1300 had applied for MSO registration to the Ministry, the broadcasters were requested to ask the MSOs with whom they have interconnect agreements but who have not applied for MSO registration wherher they were interested to work as MSO in the DAS notified area failing which they would not be able to act as MSO after the cut-off date.

    The representative of Sony mentioned that they have interconnect agreements with about 1500 MSOs,out of which 1101 have not applied to the Ministry for MSO registration. He confirmed that these MSOs have been advised to apply for MSO registration if they want to continue as MSO in DAS notified areas.

    The representative of Star also mentioned that they have issued similar letters to their MSOs who have not taken MSO registration from the Ministry.

    The Indian Broadcasting Foundation representative was requested to ensure that the similar action is taken by all other members of the IBF and also to supply the list with their e-mail addresses, including those from Sony, to the Ministry so that the Ministry can also write to them.

    The representative of CEAMA said they are not getting sufficient orders of STBs from the big players, though they have enough stock of STBs.

    Joint Secretary (Broadcasting) Sanjay Murthy said an issue of setting up of grievance redressal mechanism at national level for MSOs, LCOs and consumers was discussed with the representatives of broadcasters a few days back. He wanted to know the status of setting up of such a system. The representative of IBF said it was working on it and would submit a proposed plan by 10 September 2016 to the Ministry.

    While reviewing the progress of the court cases pending in Delhi High Court with regard to cut off date of phase lll digitization, the representative of IBF said it had filed an application in the Hon’ble Delhi High Court to implead them in these cases.

    Regarding the public awareness campaign, the representative of the IBF said its members have already started the public campaign using 2 AV Spots provided by the Ministry. He also said scrolls are being planned by their members. The Chairperson emphasized the need for IBF members to develop their own AV Spots as had been done on earlier occasions.

    Also read:

    DAS Phase IV: IBF asked to up campaign in addition to MIB ads

  • MSOs urged to buy domestic set top boxes as there is no shortage

    MSOs urged to buy domestic set top boxes as there is no shortage

    NEW DELHI: Reiterating that there was no scarcity of digitally addressable set top boxes and the cut-off date of the final phase was fast approaching, Information and Broadcasting Additional Secretary Jayashree Mukherjee has urged multi system and local cable operators to place orders with domestic manufacturers.

    She has also also said that the broadcasters should develop their own AV Spots and start using these by 30 Septemberr 2016 and start a scroll on their channels to mount publicity campaign about digital addressable system.

    Chairing the 17th meeting of the DAS Task Force, Mukherjee agreed with a suggestion that an advisory may be issued by the Ministry to all MSOs to carry public awareness campaign on their local channels also.

    She said considering that the cut-off date of 31 December 2016 was fast approaching, the State Nodal Officers were requested to take help of the Assistant project Directors of Regional Units to implement complete digitization in their States and carry out regular monitoring of the progress at the State as well as District level, preferably on weekly basis.

    She said the schedule of the meeting planned at State level may be sent to the Ministry so that if required, the Ministry’s representative can also be present in some of these meetings.

    She also felt that the Ministry should regularly release Press Notes/Press Releases on the status of Cable TV Digitization.

    At the meeting held on 31 August 2016, Mukherjee, representatives of Telangana, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Haryana, Jammu and Kashmir, Karnataka, Jharkhand, Punjab, Bihar, Rajasthan and West Bengal gave details of the progress of implementation of digitization in phase lll and measures being undertaken by them to implement the last phase of digitization in their respective States.

    Almost all of them said they were holding regular meetings to monitor the progress and are trying to resolve the issues with stakeholders in order to achieve the target of compfete digitization by the cut-off date.

    However, the Chairperson observed that more action was required to be taken by the Nodal Officers of UP, Bihar and Karnataka.

    Considering that there were around 6000 MSOs operating in the country but only about 1300 had applied for MSO registration to the Ministry, the broadcasters were requested to ask the MSOs with whom they have interconnect agreements but who have not applied for MSO registration wherher they were interested to work as MSO in the DAS notified area failing which they would not be able to act as MSO after the cut-off date.

    The representative of Sony mentioned that they have interconnect agreements with about 1500 MSOs,out of which 1101 have not applied to the Ministry for MSO registration. He confirmed that these MSOs have been advised to apply for MSO registration if they want to continue as MSO in DAS notified areas.

    The representative of Star also mentioned that they have issued similar letters to their MSOs who have not taken MSO registration from the Ministry.

    The Indian Broadcasting Foundation representative was requested to ensure that the similar action is taken by all other members of the IBF and also to supply the list with their e-mail addresses, including those from Sony, to the Ministry so that the Ministry can also write to them.

    The representative of CEAMA said they are not getting sufficient orders of STBs from the big players, though they have enough stock of STBs.

    Joint Secretary (Broadcasting) Sanjay Murthy said an issue of setting up of grievance redressal mechanism at national level for MSOs, LCOs and consumers was discussed with the representatives of broadcasters a few days back. He wanted to know the status of setting up of such a system. The representative of IBF said it was working on it and would submit a proposed plan by 10 September 2016 to the Ministry.

    While reviewing the progress of the court cases pending in Delhi High Court with regard to cut off date of phase lll digitization, the representative of IBF said it had filed an application in the Hon’ble Delhi High Court to implead them in these cases.

    Regarding the public awareness campaign, the representative of the IBF said its members have already started the public campaign using 2 AV Spots provided by the Ministry. He also said scrolls are being planned by their members. The Chairperson emphasized the need for IBF members to develop their own AV Spots as had been done on earlier occasions.

    Also read:

    DAS Phase IV: IBF asked to up campaign in addition to MIB ads

  • 17.8 million STBs deployed in Phase IV areas: MIB

    17.8 million STBs deployed in Phase IV areas: MIB

    MUMBAI: The ministry of information and broadcasting says that close to 17.8 million set top boxes have been seeded in Phase IV areas. The figure was 138 million set top boxes during the fifteenth task force meeting held in end May this year.

    Speaking at the sixteenth task force meeting which was held on 26 July, the joint secretary R. Jaya stated that most of this is coming courtesy voluntarily digitization.

    She also urged representatives of the MSOs to finalise their procurement plans of STBs, and cautioned that “they should not let some disinterested players in phase IV areas delay digitization in phase IV areas on the grounds of non-availability of STB as it was done in phase III.”

    She added that except for some DTH operators the public awareness campaign for DAS Phase IV digitization has not come up to scratch. She urged the industry to develop its own creative and its own spots to spread the message of cable TV digitization in the phase IV regions.

    This is of course apart from the spots that have been developed by the ministry and which were playing out on the public broadcaster Doordarshan’s channels.

  • 17.8 million STBs deployed in Phase IV areas: MIB

    17.8 million STBs deployed in Phase IV areas: MIB

    MUMBAI: The ministry of information and broadcasting says that close to 17.8 million set top boxes have been seeded in Phase IV areas. The figure was 138 million set top boxes during the fifteenth task force meeting held in end May this year.

    Speaking at the sixteenth task force meeting which was held on 26 July, the joint secretary R. Jaya stated that most of this is coming courtesy voluntarily digitization.

    She also urged representatives of the MSOs to finalise their procurement plans of STBs, and cautioned that “they should not let some disinterested players in phase IV areas delay digitization in phase IV areas on the grounds of non-availability of STB as it was done in phase III.”

    She added that except for some DTH operators the public awareness campaign for DAS Phase IV digitization has not come up to scratch. She urged the industry to develop its own creative and its own spots to spread the message of cable TV digitization in the phase IV regions.

    This is of course apart from the spots that have been developed by the ministry and which were playing out on the public broadcaster Doordarshan’s channels.

  • Reliance Jio declares readiness for 4G launch; imports IPTV STBs

    Reliance Jio declares readiness for 4G launch; imports IPTV STBs

    MUMBAI: The Reliance Jio juggernaut is getting ready to enter the next phase. According to the Q1 2017 presentation Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) made to investors over the weekend, Relaince Jio’s Preview Offer for its 4G LTE services tests phase is doing very well.

    Reliance Jio officials announced that the company is ready to roll them out nationally, apart from four circles (these will take six to eight weeks) which were awarded to it on 6 July.

    It said that its network is available over 18,000 cities and more than 200,000 villages in the 2300 MHz/1800 MHz band.

    The company stated that its JioLyf Preview Offer is now being expanded and has attracted 1.5 million plus users to it. Each subscriber is consuming 26GB and speaking for about 355 minutes each month.

    Reliance Jio revealed that there has been a strong uptake of all the services it has been offering, considering the humungous data consumption. Among the ones that are popular is Jio Play offering 300+ channel (30 of them HD) across 15 languages in 10 genres, offering seven day catch up TV with pause and play and personalization features. The others that are gaining in popularity are JioOnDemand, (100,000 hours of HD-ad free movies and trailers), JioBeats (million plus songs in 20 different languages), JioXpresNews (500 plus content publishers) and JioMags (5,000 magazine plus issues across 15 categories and 10 languages).

    According to the RIL presentation, the company has set up a 100,000 strong retailer base to sell its LYF devices, which include Flame, Wind, Water and Earth priced between Rs 2,999 and 19,999. Another 500,000 outlets for SIM and recharge sales have been signed up.

    Last week Reliance Jio extended its Preview Offer to select Samsung Galaxy Phone users and it is now expected to allow IPhone 6, and 6S users to be able to sign up for it too by next week.

    Observers expect Reliance Jio to levy a data usage fee much lower than the 0.5 p per 10 kb – that has been talked about so far – when it launches. A commercial launch date that is being talked about is 15 August.

    Additionally Reliance Jio has also imported 15,000 IPTV set top boxes from Vietnam earlier this month, according to reports.

    The boxes reportedly have a price tag of Rs 5,500 and are an indicator that the company is possibly readying to introduce its fibre to the home services (FTTH) and could start delivering IPTV to customers in the not too distand future. All that subscribers have to do is download the JioPlay and JioOnDemand Apps to tune into content that could rival that offered by many other cable operators and DTH operators. Reliance Jio already has a national MSO licence. Pricing plans have not been revealed as yet, but expect them to be competitive.

    RIL reported a turnover of Rs 71,451 crore with a net profit of Rs 7,113 crore. in Q12017.

  • Reliance Jio declares readiness for 4G launch; imports IPTV STBs

    Reliance Jio declares readiness for 4G launch; imports IPTV STBs

    MUMBAI: The Reliance Jio juggernaut is getting ready to enter the next phase. According to the Q1 2017 presentation Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) made to investors over the weekend, Relaince Jio’s Preview Offer for its 4G LTE services tests phase is doing very well.

    Reliance Jio officials announced that the company is ready to roll them out nationally, apart from four circles (these will take six to eight weeks) which were awarded to it on 6 July.

    It said that its network is available over 18,000 cities and more than 200,000 villages in the 2300 MHz/1800 MHz band.

    The company stated that its JioLyf Preview Offer is now being expanded and has attracted 1.5 million plus users to it. Each subscriber is consuming 26GB and speaking for about 355 minutes each month.

    Reliance Jio revealed that there has been a strong uptake of all the services it has been offering, considering the humungous data consumption. Among the ones that are popular is Jio Play offering 300+ channel (30 of them HD) across 15 languages in 10 genres, offering seven day catch up TV with pause and play and personalization features. The others that are gaining in popularity are JioOnDemand, (100,000 hours of HD-ad free movies and trailers), JioBeats (million plus songs in 20 different languages), JioXpresNews (500 plus content publishers) and JioMags (5,000 magazine plus issues across 15 categories and 10 languages).

    According to the RIL presentation, the company has set up a 100,000 strong retailer base to sell its LYF devices, which include Flame, Wind, Water and Earth priced between Rs 2,999 and 19,999. Another 500,000 outlets for SIM and recharge sales have been signed up.

    Last week Reliance Jio extended its Preview Offer to select Samsung Galaxy Phone users and it is now expected to allow IPhone 6, and 6S users to be able to sign up for it too by next week.

    Observers expect Reliance Jio to levy a data usage fee much lower than the 0.5 p per 10 kb – that has been talked about so far – when it launches. A commercial launch date that is being talked about is 15 August.

    Additionally Reliance Jio has also imported 15,000 IPTV set top boxes from Vietnam earlier this month, according to reports.

    The boxes reportedly have a price tag of Rs 5,500 and are an indicator that the company is possibly readying to introduce its fibre to the home services (FTTH) and could start delivering IPTV to customers in the not too distand future. All that subscribers have to do is download the JioPlay and JioOnDemand Apps to tune into content that could rival that offered by many other cable operators and DTH operators. Reliance Jio already has a national MSO licence. Pricing plans have not been revealed as yet, but expect them to be competitive.

    RIL reported a turnover of Rs 71,451 crore with a net profit of Rs 7,113 crore. in Q12017.

  • Delay in Phase III monetisation likely to disturb profitability of MSOs: ICRA

    Delay in Phase III monetisation likely to disturb profitability of MSOs: ICRA

    MUMBAI: In the cable TV space, in the current fiscal the revenue growth of multiple system operators (MSOs) will remain sensitive to regulatory changes, says ICRA. While lifting of stay orders and consequent discontinuation of analog signals in Phase III markets will remain a key subscription revenue growth driver, any extension with respect to Phase IV deadline (beyond December 31, 2016) will impact the activation revenues.

    With an estimated population of over 60 million households in Phase IV markets, cable TV players do not anticipate any extension in Phase IV deadline. However, the implementation is expected to be along the experience of Phase III, with analog signals being discontinued in a phased manner. Of the analog population in Phase III and Phase IV markets, residual analog subscriber base amongst the top three MSOs stood at ~9.5 million subscribers only (as on March 31, 2016), against a total analog population of over 6 0 million in the country, indicating healthy growth opportunities for DTH operators and regional MSOs. In this direction, DTH operators have introduced lower priced vanilla STBs and channel packages to tap the opportunity in Phase IV markets; however, DD Free Dish is also expected to emerge as a key player in Phase IV, given the price sensitive nature of subscribers.

    “Over the last few years, market leaders in the cable TV space have adopted an inorganic growth strategy for entering new geographies and increasing their subscriber universe, consolidation in the cable TV space is expected to continue as MSOs look at further strengthening their market position in their respective geographies,” says ICRA Ratings SR GVP Subrata Ray.

    While the overall placement revenues are expected to remain buoyant, driven by new channel launches and the inclusion of tier II and tier III markets in audience measurement metrics; some correction on account of the change in the nature of content deals (net of placement revenues) with larger broadcasting networks is anticipated. While the subject of discontinuation of analog signals in Phase III markets remains under litigation, monetisation of the Phase III markets is expected to get deferred by nearly a year before the benefits of the healthy STB seeding, achieved in Phase III markets, start percolating.

    “In view of the potential delays in Phase III monetisation, ability of the MSOs to improve cost efficiencies and ARPUs from Phase I and Phase II markets remains crucial to support the profitability metrics in the current fiscal,” says Ray.

    During this transition phase, the cash accruals of MSOs are expected to improve gradually as incremental capex requirements are likely to remain low.

    “The capex outlay of MSOs over the medium term will be driven towards achieving higher broadband penetration in identified markets; investments in LCO management and improving penetration of value-added services such as HD channels and Video-on-Demand in digitised markets. In addition, replacement capex for STBs seeded in Phase I and Phase II markets will also drive the investment requirements of MSOs over the medium term,” adds Ray.