ITV

Tag: Sumangali

  • Government proposes takeover of 6 more MSOs

    MUMBAI: The Tamil Nadu Government today introduced in the Assembly an amendment to the Cable Television Network Bill to take over six more Multiple Service Operators (MSOs) in the state, besides the two major players — Sumangali Cable Vision (SCV) and Hathway.
    It was on Saturday that the Tamil Nadu government introduced a legislation giving it the powers to acquire and take over southern broadcast king Kalanithi Maran’s Sumangali Cable vision (SCV) and Hathway Cable and Datacom (in which Star India has a 26 per cent stake). Today Tamil Nadu chief minister J Jayalalithaa (and bitter political rival of Maran’s uncle M Karunanidhi) “spread the net wider” to include six more MSOs.
    An amendment to the Cable Television Network Bill (tabled Friday) was moved today by information and publicity minister KP Anbalagan in the Tamil Nadu legislative assembly for the take over of the following MSOs: Baba Cable Vision in Chennai, Thamizh Thai Cable Vision in Coimbatore, Ajai Cable TV and People’s Cable Network in Madurai, Karan TV in Tirunelveli and Polymer Cable in Salem.
    According to the Press Trust of India, the proposed Act would come into effect from a date to be notified by the government, but different dates might be notified for different areas.
    Interestingly, legal experst that Indiantelevision.com spoke to pointed out that any legislative Act “cannot be impugned on the grounds of malafide.” In other words SCV cannot argue in the courts against the Act that the actions of the Tamil Nadu legislature were directly aimed at crippling its business for instance. What the courts would have to decide on (assuming Maran takes legal recourse in the matter of course) is “whether it is in the competence of the legislature to pass such an Act.”
    This is significant because a source close to Sun TV, promoted by the Maran family, told Indiantelevision.com yesterday that Jayalalithas is trying to settle political issues by “encroaching on matters that are prerogative of the Central government.”
    The source, considered close to the promoter Maran family, indicated that because an uplink application of Jaya TV (backed by associates of Jayalalitha) seeking to start a news channel is pending with the communication ministry (headed by Kalanithi Maran’s brother and Union telecom minister Dayanidhi Maran), the chief minister is “applying unnecessary pressure.”
    Meanwhile, there was chaos in the assembly and a walkout by the opposition DMK after Jayalalithaa alleged that Karunanidhi made a “clandestine” visit to the governor accompanied by Union telecom minister Dayanidhi Maran “to scuttle the government’s decision to take over SCV”.
    Jayalalithaa plans to offer better terms for cable ops, broadcasters; lower charges for subscribers:
    The Hindu has reported that the TN chief minister is planning “a new cable network regime that will lead to a substantial lowering of subscription charges for television viewers and more attractive terms for ordinary cable operators across the State.”
    The report states that if the Act were to come into force, rural viewers could end up paying as low as Rs 50 a month to cable TV operators while in small towns, the tab would not be over Rs 70 and in big cities around Rs 80.
    Cable operators also stand to gain, the report says. Currently, they pay 50 per cent of the amount collected from the subscribers to the multi-system operators. This figure might be cut down to just 33.33 per cent.
    And what if Jayalithaa fails to ram through the legislation? Then it will launch its own atatewide cable TV network modelled on the lines of Asianet’s cabling of Kerala through a 10-year agreement with the Kerala State Electricity Board along electricity poles. 

    Also Read:
    Tamil Nadu government move ‘politically motivated’

    TN introduces bill to acquire Sumangali, Hathway in state

  • TN introduces bill to acquire Sumangali, Hathway in state

    MUMBAI: The Tamil Nadu government has introduced a legislation that gives it the powers to acquire and take over bigger cable TV networks in the state, including multi-service operators (MSOs) and Optical Transport systems.
    The bill (a copy of which is available with Indiantelevision.com), which was introduced in the state assembly today by Tamil Nadu law minister D Jayakumar, specifically mentions two MSOs in the state. The phrasing of the bill is as follows: “This Act on the appointed date, will apply to the activities of Sumangali Cable vision having its offices at… and Hathway…”
    The bill appears clearly to be targeting the activities of southern broadcast king Kalanithi Maran’s SCV and Hathway Cable and Datacom (in which Star India has a 26 per cent stake).
    When contacted, senior officials of both MSOs remained tight-lipped on their possible course of action.
    The state government has cited public interest concerns to justify a legislation that harks back to the nationalisation of banks in the country in the early seventies by then prime minister the late Indira Gandhi.
    Among the reasons attached to the bill, the government said it has received “numerous” complaints on the failure of the networks in providing proper facilities and collection of “prohibitive” charges for the packages of pay channels, “disrupting proper telecast of certain channels” and “selective blurring of certain channels.” The bill also alludes to “coercion often being resorted to by distributors and operators.”
    The critical point in the bill as far as the two MSOs are concerned is this: “The government of Tamil Nadu cannot shirk its responsibility in this sphere. It is, therefore, proposed to enact a legislation for the acquisition, transfer, and taking over of the administration of the cable television networks including MSOs and optical transport systems (fibre optic delivery).”
    The bill further states: “The rights conferred by the Constitution to carry on trade by such companies or persons engaged in television transmission networks is subject to reasonable restrictions imposed in the interest of the general public.”
    That the state government is targeting only the big boys in the business is clear when it states that “this bill intends to keep the small street-level tail end cable operators outside the purview of the legislation” since “they function at the fag end of the distribution system.”
    Now its over to Sumangali and Hathway to see their next move. This tussle is still a while away from the end game stage though since it has to first by passed by the legislative assembly and become an Act.

  • Sumangali in talks to acquire RPG Netcom

    Sumangali in talks to acquire RPG Netcom

    MUMBAI: Sumangali Cable Vision is on the prowl. The Chennai-based multi system operator (MSO) is in talks to acquire RPG Netcom, a move which coincides with Sun Network’s plans to launch a Bengali channel ‘Surjo’ this April.

    Sources say RPG Netcom, the dominant MSO in Kolkata, has given the mandate to Ernst & Young to find a buyer. The buzz is that Deloitte is carrying out the due diligence on behalf of Sun Network.

    Neither companies were willing to talk about the negotiations. When contacted, Vittal Sampadakumaram of Sumangali Cable Vision declined to comment. RPG Netcom CEO Amit Nag also said he was not in a position to comment on the issue.

    RPG Netcom has been trying to find an equity partner for the last few years. The negotiations with Star India broke down after the government passed legislation on the conditional access system (CAS). Star’s argument was that CAS would require huge capital infusion while there was no estimate on the cash earnings that would come into RPG Netcom.

    RPG’s disadvantage is that it has very few direct points and, like the other MSOs, has little control over its last mile operators. Besides, the scope to offer value-added services in West Bengal is limited.

    So why is Sun Network’s Sumangali Cable Vision showing interest? Analysts believe the acquisition of RPG Netcom will provide Sumangali an entry strategy while Surjo channel will get distribution support.

    The talks were initiated over a month ago and RPG Netcom officials went to Chennai for discussions. Sumangali officials, according to a source, have also visited the RPG Netcom office for further talks.

    Sun Network is planning to move out of its traditional southern bastion to reach out to a pan national market. Kalanidhi Maran has already announced plans to launch a Hindi channel in 2006. So it would be logical to expect Sumangali to make a similar march outside the south into other markets after it has breached “Bangla land”.
     

  • MSOs to meet Wednesday to discuss CAS freeze response

    MSOs to meet Wednesday to discuss CAS freeze response

    MUMBAI: Multi systems operators – the hardest hit by the government notification yesterday putting the rollout of conditional access into indefinite deep freeze – have scheduled a meeting Wednesday to try and figure out how to respond to an edict that threatens to cripple their business.

    The meeting, to be held in the capital, will see big MSOs like Hathway, InCableNet, RPG, Sumangali and SitiCable, among others, in attendance.

    At stake here is a huge amount of investment that have gone into not just the purchase of set top boxes, but also the costs of headend upgrades to digital and the installation of subscriber management systems that were the key to introducing addressability into the cable broadcast business.

    The government notification followed a recommendation made by the telecom Regulatory authority on Monday (23 February) that the 10 July 2003 notification on CAS in the country be either denotified or kept in abeyance for a period of three months.

    The immediate issue for the MSOs is what is to be done about the 80,000 or so set top boxes that had already been sold outright or rented out in places like South Delhi and Chennai. In South Delhi, about 40,000 boxes are estimated to have been seeded thus far while in Chennai 33,000 boxes have been seeded, industry sources say.

    There is also the problem of the set tops lying with the MSOs expecting an increase in offtake in the run-up to the India-Pakistan cricket series.

    As far as the course of action is concerned, one likely route would be the legal one. The MSOs have a strong case because the investments they made in infrastructure were under specific order from the information and broadcasting ministry. The I&B ministry had initially said that CAS should be implemented by 1 September, 2003.

    And while the MSOs may still be reeling, the lower end of the cable business – the last mile operators – are not so unhappy.

    The Chennai-based federation of Cable Operators has welcomed the notification. According to association president V. Venkatesan, the suspension of CAS has not come a moment too soon, what with the India-Pakistan cricket tour around the corner.

    There is also the other side to this that the cable ops in Chennai can now hike up the rates across the Southern Indian city to what they were before CAS became effective (1 September).

    As for the MSOs they are truely caught in a cleft stick. The Trai orders that cable prices be frozen at levels that existed as of 26 December 2004 coupled to the rider that this does preclude broadcasters from demanding increases in the subscription base has the MSOs in a bind. The last mile operators are unlikely to accede to any pressure to increase declarations and remain deeply suspicious of both MSOs and broadcasters. The broadcasters will be putting the squeeze on MSOs to increase connectivity.

    One broadcaster in particular which will be working overtime to ramp up its paid points is Ten Sports. The fact that it has exclusive rights to the India-Pakistan cricket series offers it the best possible chance to increase its declared subscriber base.

  • Sumangali looking to expand cable services into Hyderabad

    Sumangali looking to expand cable services into Hyderabad

    Sumangali Cable Vision (SCV), the Sun Network-owned leading cable distribution company in Tamil Nadu, is expanding its base to add the city of Hyderabad within its servicing area.

    “From September, we will start operation in Hyderabad too,” SCV’s chief executive Dayanidhi Maran told indiantelevision.com on the sidelines of a seminar on CAS organised by CETMA in New Delhi today.

    Pointing out that at present the company has cable services in six cities in Tamil Nadu, Maran, however, said there are no plans to start operations in North India.

    “We have enough on our hands and don’t want to go to areas where there are already established players,” he said. On its cable networks across Tamil Nadu, apart from cable TV, SCV also provides its subscribers net-over-cable for which rates are different depending on the usage and various packages.

    Though Maran was hesitant to comment on Sun starting a direct-to-home (DTH) TV platform, he did admit that there are various issues which need to be addressed by the government before Sun can even think of applying for a DTH licence.

    Maran also admitted that the investment needed to implement CAS would be huge and the cost has to be shared by everybody concerned.

    “I think the MSOs and cable operators (who walk the last line into the subscribers’ homes) will have to share the cost with cable operators bearing a majority of the cost to be incurred,” he said.

    Maran, however, was not forthcoming how and from where such huge amounts of money would be raised by MSOs and cable operators. “It would be a huge investment is all that I can say,” Maran said.