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Tag: tariff order

  • TRAI asks DTH operator Independent TV to explain tariff plans

    TRAI asks DTH operator Independent TV to explain tariff plans

    MUMBAI: Telecom regulatory authority of India (TRAI), in a letter, has asked direct-to-home (DTH) operator Independent TV to explain whether tariff plans offered by it are as per the new regulatory framework.

    TRAI swung into action in the matter after it received several consumer complaints about the opaque nature of the break-up of Independent TV’s monthly tariff plans.

    “…You are hereby directed to provide all the information in the prescribed format as sought by TRAI…. Further you are also required to provide detailed justification that the present tariff plans, being offered by Independent TV are in line with the new regulatory framework clearly indicating the bifurcation of the Network Capacity Fee and other charges,” TRAI wrote in a letter, according to a report by news agency Press Trust of India (PTI).

    TRAI now wants the DTH platform, which is believed to have 0.83 million subscribers, to come clean on the consumer complaints.

    Recently, TRAI extended the deadline for consumers to select television channels under its new tariff regime till 31 March.

    Subscribers that don’t opt for new channels would be moved to ‘Best Fit Plans’, which would be developed as per usage pattern, language and channel popularity, the sector regulator said in its statement.

  • Broadcasters split over TRAI’s directive to BARC on TV viewership data

    Broadcasters split over TRAI’s directive to BARC on TV viewership data

    MUMBAI: The latest episode in the ongoing tariff order implementation saga saw industry watchdog and regulator, the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI), direct TV ratings monitoring body – Broadcast Audience Research Council (BARC) – to publish ratings and TV viewership data from the week ending 8 February on its website with immediate effect. BARC, which was set up as an industry-funded body, citing the implementation of the new framework, has been releasing the data only to its subscribers. Earlier, the audience measurement firm published the weekly data on its website every Thursday.

    Indiantelevision.com spoke to several broadcasters, none of who wanted to be identified, about the latest development to gain perspective.

    “ISA has already advised that you should not use this data for planning. If there is a transition happening it will reflect in the data. Advertisers need to figure out how they want to maximise their investment in the market place. In my point of view, it (weekly data) should be used as a broad indicator. I’m in the favour of it being published,” the CEO of a news network said.

    “This is the transition period and they (BARC) are not publishing on the site but data is available between all the stakeholders, agencies, clients and broadcaster. In my opinion, the people who are not paying for the data should not get the data,” said another CEO of a news network.

    Recently, TRAI extended the deadline for consumers to select television channels under its new tariff regime till 31 March. Subscribers that don’t opt for new channels would be moved to ‘Best Fit Plans’, which would be developed as per usage pattern, language and channel popularity, the sector regulator said in its statement.

    “There are two ways to look at it—if the ratings are being published given the level of disruption, advertisers and marketers would want to know what is going on at the ground level. Implementation takes time and some markets may have done more implementation than other markets. So, if the data is viewed in that light then it is fine but if it’s not then it starts becoming a bit of an issue because people will plan based out of an erratic pattern and obviously no one wants that,” argued a business head of a major network.

    The Indian Society of Advertisers' (ISA) executive council had advised its members to not use the BARC data for media buying, planning and evaluation perspective during the transition period, which it feels will stretch up to six weeks.

    “If people view the interim data correctly and look at it and understand what it is over a period of time, then it is fine. But if they make decisions by viewing one week or two week data, then that’s when mistakes will be made. This is why there were two thoughts whether to publish the data or not. But on the other hand, it is good because people will see the progress of whether a channel is up or down. I think people should use this and make plans for the medium to long term,” he further added.

    The sector regulator had asked BARC to furnish compliance by 25 February 2019, "failing which, appropriate action would be initiated" under relevant sections of the TRAI Act.

    “According to me, BARC should publish the data. There’s no logic for them to not publish the viewership data. The only thing here is that consumers may be misguided because of the fluctuating viewership ratings of the channels,” opined the promoter of a regional network.

    According to TRAI, BARC has ignored its previous directives of publishing ratings and viewership data for television channels.

    Several industry watchers told Indiantelevision.com that it was in fact the broadcasters that weren’t keen on weekly data being published on the BARC website.

    “Yes, nobody was in favour of the data being published initially. Now that the system has somewhat stabilised, we are better equipped to tackle potential issues. TRAI’s directive is on expected lines,” said a senior executive of a major broadcast network.

    TRAI held a meeting on Friday with distribution platform operators (DPOs) where it was informed that almost all cable consumers have either made their channel preferences or moved to ‘best fit plan’ under the new tariff regime.

    The meeting was attended by multi-system operators (MSO) and all major DTH players to review the progress of migration of TV viewers under the new framework.

    "According to inputs received by the regulator from players, in the case of DTH services, about 43 per cent customers have made their channel preferences known. When combined with statistics for ‘best fit plan’, this number rises to 57 per cent," stated TRAI secretary SK Gupta.

  • TRAI directs BARC to publish TV viewership data on website immediately

    TRAI directs BARC to publish TV viewership data on website immediately

    MUMBAI:  Industry watchdog and regulator, the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI), is cracking the whip on TV ratings monitoring body – Broadcast Audience Research Council (BARC). In a sternly worded letter, TRAI has asked BARC to publish ratings and TV viewership data for the week ending 8 February with immediate effect. TRAI’s directive has come in the wake of the latter's decision to release the weekly data only to its subscribers as opposed to publishing it on the website.

    BARC had cited implementation of the new tariff order as the reason for it not sticking to the norm.

    According to a report by news agency Press Trust of India, the sector regulator has asked BARC to furnish compliance by 25 February 2019, "failing which, appropriate action would be initiated" under relevant sections of the TRAI Act.

    "BARC India has modified its Fair and Permissible Usage Policy in February 14, 2019, even after being repeatedly asked by the authority to not stop publishing of rating data and viewership data on its website during the migration to new regulatory framework until and unless explicitly permitted by the authority and are thus, in contravention of the direction of the authority dated December 21, 2018 and January 14, 2019," the TRAI directive read.

    According to TRAI, BARC has ignored its previous directives of publishing ratings and viewership data for television channels. The regulator said that the audience measurement company had argued that disruption due to migration to a new regulatory framework could prevent consumers from gaining access to channels of their choice, thereby running the risk of an inaccurate portrayal of TV consumption trends in the country.

    Industry sources have told Indiantelevision.com that it was, in fact, the broadcasters who were not keen on the weekly data being published on the BARC website. With fluctuations expected during the tariff order implementation, broadcasters were skeptical about how the weekly data would impact their channels and popular shows especially from a public perception point of view.

    TRAI, however, is opposed to the idea of not publishing the data, which, it feels, is a true reflection of the market changes. BARC’s decision to "withhold" the data is not justified, the regulator pointed out.

    TRAI also highlighted that BARC "failed to furnish any cogent reason for not publishing the rating and viewership data" and that "such action on part of BARC India reflects poorly on the creditworthiness of the data published by them."

    "Now…the authority…hereby directs Broadcast Audience Research Council to immediately release and publish viewership data for the week ending February 8, 2019 and weeks subsequent to it, on its website without any further delay and not to stop it in future also without explicit instruction/direction from the authority or Ministry of Information and Broadcasting…," said the TRAI directive.

    BARC was setup  as an industry-funded body following the drawing up of guidelines for TV monitoring agencies by TRAI and the I&B ministry and is requires registration with the latter.

    Recently, TRAI extended the deadline for consumers to select television channels under its new tariff regime till 31 March. Subscribers that don’t opt for new channels would be moved to ‘Best Fit Plans’, which would be developed as per usage pattern, language and channel popularity, the sector regulator said in its statement.

    Earlier, the Indian Society of Advertisers' (ISA) executive council had advised its members to not use the BARC data for media buying, planning and evaluation perspective during the transition period, which it feels will stretch up to six weeks.

  • Tariff order implementation: Pay channels’ connectivity drops ranging from 61% to 0.5% across genres

    Tariff order implementation: Pay channels’ connectivity drops ranging from 61% to 0.5% across genres

    MUMBAI: The ongoing flux in the broadcast sector due to the new TRAI tariff order implementation has had a significant impact on the connectivity of pay channels in the country. After the new regulatory framework kicked in on 1 February, pay channels’ connectivity witnessed a drop ranging from 61 per cent to 0.5 per cent across genres. Free-to-air (FTA) channels, however, seem to have benefitted under the new regime so far.

    “NTO deployment is creating massive nightmare for all DPOs, whether it is DTH or cable. The technology is unable to handle the massive data that is getting ported to these boxes. So what’s happening is the technology is collapsing, they don’t know what is happening in the data centres because of which the channels are dropped out,” CEO of a major broadcaster told Indiantelevision.com on the condition of anonymity.

    Chrome DM live data week 7 has reported a major change in consumption patterns across genres. Pay channels from the English news stable, endured a drop in connectivity by 24 per cent, while the FTA channels witnessed a growth of six per cent with Republic TV, News X and Channel News Asia being the biggest gainers. The kids’ genre channels saw an overall drop both across Pay and FTA of 34 per cent and three per cent respectively.  Interestingly, the connectivity of Maha Cartoon Network rose by eight per cent.

    While the connectivity of Hindi GEC channels connectivity reduced by 0.5 per cent, that of FTA Hindi GECs increased by 0.1 per cent. Dillagi was the top gainer in Hindi GEC FTA genre followed by Mubu TV. Among other genres, Hindi movie channels experienced a slight drop in FTA, with Hindi news pay channels sailing in the same boat. Hindi news FTA channels, however, saw a 0.4 per cent growth, with News 1 India, Bhaskar News, News World India and IND 24 being the bigger beneficiaries.

    The regional markets were a reflection of HSM trends. However, the drop in connectivity was lower. Tamil channels across genres were hit by a slight drop ranging from 0.1 per cent to 0.3 per cent.

    “Maharashtra saw a slight drop both across FTA and pay with Marathi GEC being mislaid by 0.5 per cent across pay channels, Marathi movies by 0.2 per cent and Marathi music by 0.1 per cent,” the report stated.

    The Chrome data week 7 has reiterated that the offtake of DPO designed packages continues to be higher, standing at 15.5 per cent rate in urban India. The data added that 73.5 per cent still haven’t gained access to the new packs and continue to receive the 300 odd channels as per their old packs. According to the data, only FTA channels packs have reached 5.3 per cent of the TV homes followed by broadcaster packs at 4.1 per cent and a-la-carte at two per cent.

    “Broadcaster packages offtake has a direct correlation of quantity and price with the India consumer – which is led by Zee (23 channels @ Rs. 39) followed by Sony, Star and Colors. For the Non-GEC category – Discovery, Disney and Times Network lead – however they are a distant second to the GEC offtake across HSM,” Chrome DM founder Pankaj Krishna said.

    “When TRAI channel tariff order is enforced, channel availability per home will reduce from approx. 350 channels to 100+50. So, today most GEC channels have 90 per cent + distribution and about 35 per cent weekly reach. After TRAI these channels could land up having 30 per cent distribution and 30 per cent reach,” Madison Group CEO Vikram Sakhuja said earlier this week at an event.

    In light of the new tariff order implementation, BARC released its weekly TV viewership data only to those that have subscribed to its service. The audience measurement company is yet to state until when it intends to continue doing so.

    “We need to stick to BARC guidelines because that’s the norm or benchmark we have in this country. I think TRAI is also in close conversation with the authorities that how much of migration has happened, how much of it is pending right now and that is why they have extended the deadline to 31 March 2019. Ultimately the system needs to stabilise. Till that time I don’t think the numbers will make any difference to any advertiser,” marketing head of an FMCD major had recently told Indiantelevision.com.

  • TRAI vs Tata Sky: Delhi High Court adjourns case to 21 February

    TRAI vs Tata Sky: Delhi High Court adjourns case to 21 February

    MUMBAI: The Delhi High Court on Wednesday adjourned Tata Sky’s ongoing legal battle, in which Discovery,  Bharti Telemedia-owned Airtel Digital TV and Sun Direct are a part, with the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India(TRAI) and its new tariff regime to 21 February.

    The regulator on Tuesday extended the deadline for consumers to select television channels under its new tariff regime till 31 March The subscribers that don’t opt for new channels would be moved to ‘Best Fit Plans’, which would be developed as per usage pattern, language and channel popularity, the sector regulator said in its statement.

    TRAI chairman RS Sharma last week addressed a press conference in the national capital, rubbishing a Crisil report that claimed cable and DTH bills were bound to increase after the implementation of the tariff order.

    Earlier, Indian Society of Advertisers' (ISA) executive council also advised its members to not use the BARC data for media buying, planning and evaluation perspective during the transition period, which it feels will stretch up to six weeks.

    On 4 February, after senior lawyer Kapil Sibal, representing Tata Sky, concluded his arguments including legal submissions, Discovery India Communication’s counsel Gopal Jain laid the foundation for his arguments.

    The regulator informed the court that the new tariff order has already been implemented from 1 February.

    Earlier the TRAI had offered an extension till 31 January to the distribution platform operators (DPOs) for implementation.

    On 24 January, the Harit Nagpal-led company finally unveiled the new pricing of channels and packs after it was served a show-cause notice by the TRAI.

    TRAI's show-cause notice said, "Tata Sky has failed to provide options to its 17.7 million subscribers in compliance with the new framework to exercise their choices for TV channels. Tata Sky has put its subscribers in a situation of great difficulty despite no fault of theirs by not complying with the provisions of the new regulations and the tariff order.”

    Despite the delay in announcing channel prices, Tata Sky MD and CEO Nagpal is confident that his team can complete the tricky task of implementing the new norms within a relatively short span of time.

    “Tata Sky has always been compliant to regulatory requirements. We have gone live with our modes of communication across the Tata Sky website, Tata Sky mobile app and also equipped the dealers that subscribers can reach out to. We were confident that we would be able to complete the task in 1 week’s time. Hence we used this time to a seamless and smooth transition for all our subscribers. We have ensured that choosing channels and packs is as easy as 1, 2, 3 for any subscriber,” the veteran executive said.

    On 29 January, Calcutta High Court stayed the cable switchover till 18 February. The court’s directive was a result of 80 cable operators from the city filing a petition against the TRAI mandate. However, the high court later vacated the stay.

    The petitioners’ lawyer Debabrata Saha Roy argued that the revenue-sharing model under the new regime will significantly reduce the cable operators’ share to just nine per cent. With 80% will go into the broadcasters’ kitty, MSOs stand to get just 11 per cent, thus making it an unsustainable business proposition for operators.

    In 2017, Bharti Telemedia, Tata Sky and Discovery Communication India had filed petitions against TRAI, challenging its tariff order and the interconnect regulations.

    Unlike the position adopted by Star India wherein it questioned the regulatory powers of TRAI, the matter in the Delhi HC questions the regulator’s power to wipe out deals that operators enter into to fix commissions and rates for customers.

  • TRAI steps in after 24% homes lose complete access to all pay channels

    TRAI steps in after 24% homes lose complete access to all pay channels

    MUMBAI: The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) on Tuesday extended the deadline for consumers to select television channels under its new tariff regime till 31 March  The subscribers that don’t opt for new channels would be moved to ‘Best Fit Plans’, which would be developed as per usage pattern, language and channel popularity, the sector regulator said in its statement.

    The regulator said the decision had been taken to protect the interests of consumers. TRAI stated that some subscribers are facing difficulties in selecting the channels/ bouquet of their choice. In some cases, LCOs have not been able to reach out to the subscriber to create awareness among them and collect the options, it noted.

    Right through the last couple of months, the regulator had time and again directed broadcasters and DPOs to ensure a seamless transition with no blackouts of TV screens.
    Despite the best efforts of all stakeholders, switch offs were reported across several cities of the country during the transition, a situation RS Sharma and team wanted to avoid.
    Therefore the TRAI’s latest move aimed at a consumer-friendly migration seems to be a positive one if ground-level implementation data is looked into.

    According to numbers provided by Chrome DM, 24 per cent households had lost complete access to all pay channels in 10.9 million cable and satellite homes in 366 urban cities (340 Chrome DM reported channels).

    As per Chrome DM week 6 data, 76 per cent of households in these cities felt no impact of the new norms, as they continued to have access to 300 odd channels as per their old packs. 13 per cent of households among rest 185.1 million cable and satellite homes across the country have exercised their right in some form to pick new packs.

    Bhima Riddhi Digital Service promoter Nagesh Chhabria said his team had to convert consumers from pay channel base to FTA base in some areas. Chhabria said the Belgaum-based operator had initially handed ten days to its subscribers to select new channels or packages. However, those that did not exercise their choice were converted to the FTA base. However, he added that consumers were informed prior to the switch off. Overall 30-35 per cent of his company’s consumer base has been converted to FTA.

    Maharashtra Cable Operators Foundation (MCOF) member Asif Sayed said the switch-off phenomenon was being witnessed in parts of Mumbai as well. According to him, all the MSOs other than Den Networks “have forcefully converted the pay packages into FTA”.

    Sayed went on to add that some consumers, despite having packages with six months validity, have been moved to the FTA base.

    “Any form of TV buying on the back of the existing ratings’ sampling does not hold, as the 196 million C&S homes in India will choose different channel packages – running into thousands of combinations. There are multiple combos being rolled out by the broadcasters, DPOs and variants of the same – earlier were an average of 5 packages earlier, which has moved to over 5000 combinations post the NTO implementation,” Chrome DM founder Pankaj Krishna highlighted.

    Chrome DM week 5 data revealed that a staggering 90 per cent of consumers were aware of the change in tariff through the TV ads of broadcaster, and not through their cable service providers.

    The data also showed that 70 per cent of people who have been contacted were yet to take decisions on which package or channels to subscribe to. Out of the balance 30 per cent in the regional markets, the inclination of choice is more towards regional packages and channels.

    According to Chhabria it is premature to talk about the package uptake. He pointed out that broadcasters are marketing national bouquets a lot more than regional one. The veteran executive feels that regional channels are being promoted by DPOs.

    According to Chrome DM, a major chunk of the off take of packages will be taken over by the distributor-defined packages, while broadcaster defined-packages will always remain a second choice. Chhabria seconded that theory, adding that around 60 per cent of consumers are picking bouquets designed by DPOs only. Sayed, from his on-ground experience, claimed that only DPO suggested packages are working. He also added that MSOs are taking a lot of time to activate pay channels on a-la-carte basis.

    According to several industry watchers Indiantelevision.com spoke to, major MSOs including Arasu Cable, Den Networks, GTPL Hathway, Hathway Cable and Datacom among others had switched off pay channels in various parts of the country. Multiple cities in Delhi and Uttar Pradesh reported a complete pay channel bouquet switch off, expect channels from IndiaCast and Sony. A small section of DPOs had also switched off all pay channels, barring some regional packages. Sayed added that the chaotic situation is increasing the churn rate of the cable business, thereby helping DTH operators.

    As per TRAI, there are close to 100 million cable service TV homes and 67 million DTH TV homes in the country. The regulator believes that approximately 65 per cent of the subscribers of the cable services and 35 per cent subscribers of the DTH services have already exercised the options.

  • Jawahar Goel expects 20% reduction in Dish TV’s content cost under new tariff regime

    Jawahar Goel expects 20% reduction in Dish TV’s content cost under new tariff regime

    MUMBAI: With the new tariff order being implemented from 1 February, India’s largest DTH operator Dish TV expects the overall content cost of the company to come down by at least 20 per cent. The DTH brand also thinks that the regulatory framework will help DTH operators to add more subscribers as many MSOs are not prepared for the implementation.

    Talking to analysts after Q3 earnings, Dish TV chairman and managing director Jawahar Goel said the company could not discuss the new payout to broadcasters because of the tariff order but which will start happening from this quarter. The new model will reset things and the veteran thinks overall content cost will reduce.

    “Currently, our pay channel cost is 35-38 per cent. In case for D2H it is roughly around 40 per cent. If we are paying Rs 2300 crore, we are expecting content cost on net basis will be around Rs 1800 crore,” he added further.

    When the management was asked about not having much impact on subscriber addition despite early undertaking of its strategy for tariff order unlike its biggest competitor Tata Sky, Dish TV India group CEO Anil Dua said it is a short term trend. He also added that the company firmly believes tariff order is good for the long run. Dua also mentioned about Mera Apna Pack on Dish TV and Mera Wala Pack on D2H which gave consumers scope to choose a channel on a-la-carte basis way before the tariff order was implemented. According to Goel, Dish TV had familiarised this new concept to almost 8 million subscribers.

    Goel also said that as customers tighten their purses, small broadcasters who don’t have price-worthy content will be forced out of the market.

    “You must have seen there are around 15-20 Hindi movie channels. They are surviving on connectivity as well as the capacity to buy content compared to lower established players. I think they will go out from the market. So, I think movie buying rights will get reset,” he added.

    The company is optimistic about subscriber addition despite the ongoing uncertainty in the last quarter. According to Goel, the lack of preparedness of MSOs will lead to channel switch offs on those platforms paving the way for DTH platforms to add more subscribers.

    Moreover, he also thinks Jio’s full entry into cable TV business may take at least another three to six months as both MSOs in which the telco giant acquired majority stakes are also prepping up for tariff order implementation. He also added that Jio has not been able to have any considerable effect on the business till now.

    However, despite being highly optimistic about the new regime, Goel is not happy with the revenue share with broadcasters. “We are not happy with this 20 per cent margin that is being given by the broadcaster. So, we are negotiating with them, talking to them. These things will start happening after the broadcaster gets first or second weekly report of their channel viewership. Thereafter the new discussion will start happening,” he commented.

    Goel also spoke on recommencement of DD Free Dish e-auction by mentioning that the most popular channels of four major broadcasters, such as Zee Pal and Star Bharat, will be withdrawn from the platform. “That is why you must have seen that in a-la-carte they are priced channels, they are no more free,” he added.

  • TRAI says 6.5 cr cable, 2.5 cr DTH homes under new tariff regime

    TRAI says 6.5 cr cable, 2.5 cr DTH homes under new tariff regime

    MUMBAI: Telecom Regulatory Authority Of India (TRAI) has stated that nine crore of the 17 crore television homes in India have migrated to the new tariff regime. TRAI chief RS Sharma, who has been monitoring the transition closely, said the nine crore figure included 6.5 crore cable TV homes and 2.5 crore DTH homes.

    "The speed [of onboarding] has increased as per our data and we expect the rest of the people to also register their choice of channels soon," he told news agency Press Trust of India.

    With DTH operating on a prepaid model, Sharma pointed out that consumers with long and short duration packs will soon opt for their new channel preferences.

    "We are guiding and helping the operators wherever required and are calling regular meetings to clarify matters," Sharma noted.

    The regulator intends to ramp up its consumer outreach and awareness programmes to further increase the speed of the transition.

    "TRAI will take up a massive campaign on consumer awareness, through social media, print, advertisements, jingles and other programs," he said.

    Last week, TRAI had asked distribution platform operators (DPOs) to respond on special schemes for TV households with multiple connections.

    Reiterating its stand, the sector regulator had said that DPOs should permit individual set top boxes (STBs), even within the same home, to have separate choice of channels, should the consumer wish so.

    As per the new norms, DPOs can provide discounts, and even forgo the network capacity fee (NCF) of Rs 130 for subsequent connections in the same household, provided these discounts are offered in a uniform manner in a region and clearly stated on the website.

    According to Sharma, three operators have already reverted on the special schemes and plans for TV households with multiple connections. TRAI, however, is unlikely intervene into the matter for now.

    The new framework that came into effect from 1 February has been widely debated over in the cable and broadcast circles.

    Last week, the executive council of the Indian Society of Advertisers (ISA) advised its members against using BARC India viewership date for media planning, buying and evaluation perspective during the transition period, which it believes could last up to six weeks.

    While TRAI has left no stone unturned to ensure a smooth and seamless migration, it continues to battle several legal cases in various courts across India.

  • IMCL highly optimistic about impact of tariff order on business

    IMCL highly optimistic about impact of tariff order on business

    MUMBAI: Indusind Media & Communications Ltd (IMCL), the Hinduja Ventures Ltd (HVL) subsidiary, is highly optimistic about the impact of the new tariff order on its business. The MSO asserts that the new regime ensures a more equitable distribution of economic benefits in the value chain. After overcoming major legal battles the new tariff order by Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has finally come to effect from 1 February.

    While earlier the deals between broadcasters and distribution platform operators (DPOs) were not transparent and consumers did not have the option to select channels as per their choice, with the new regime the industry is moving towards an MRP based model. IMCL in its third quarter earnings release said that through proper packaging and pricing and giving the consumers the channels of their choice, the company will now be able to move very fast on the path to profitability. The MSO also added that the change will also enable the company to have a better return on capital employed.

    HVL reported a total income of Rs.10.16 crore for the third quarter on 7 February while the media and communication segment contributed 10 crore. HVL operates across three segments including media and communication, real estate and investment, and treasury and IMCL comes under the first category.

    "IMCL being a progressive player in the MSO industry has looked at the developments in the industry both with respect to the new tariff order and the consolidation very positively and is today in the forefront of providing excellent consumer service through seamless implementation of the new tariff order while ensuring excellent viewership through world class technology. This along with efficient packaging and pricing adopted by it will result in the company move on the path to profitability," IMCL CEO Vynsley Fernandes said.

    Last year another major development took place in the distribution industry with the entry of Jio FTTH. To reach last mile consumers easily, JIO announced majority stake in two large MSOs, Hathway Cable and Datacom and Den Networks.

    “IMCL believes that such consolidation is good for the industry as it creates an environment for technology driven organisations who will now focus on better consumer experience leading to better pricing rather than pure volume growth in a frittered industry,” the release read.

  • TRAI clarifies network capacity fee for additional TV connections not mandatory

    TRAI clarifies network capacity fee for additional TV connections not mandatory

    MUMBAI: Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has asserted that Network Capacity Fee (NCF) for second or additional TV connections is not mandatory after many subscribers raised the issue. The regulatory body has also made it clear that the new regime does not prohibit the service providers to offer discount or lower NCF for second or additional connections in the same location or home.

    After the new tariff regime for cable and broadcasting sector came into effect from 1 February, TRAI earlier on Wednesday interacted with the media in New Delhi to discuss a wide array of concerns facing consumers when TRAI also discussed the same issue.

    With many households in India boasting of more than one TV connection, subscribers prefer a cheaper scheme for the second TV. To keep it same under new regime, TRAI sought details of special schemes for provision of second or subsequent connection after a number of subscribers raised the issue. The regulatory body said on Wednesday that it expects DPOs to declare special schemes for multiple connections within a TV home in a day or so. TRAI said it is keeping an eye on the development and will intervene if required.

    The new regulation provides a capping of Rs 130 as NCF for 100 SD channels and Rs 20 for the slab of next 25 SD channels. TRAI added the preliminary data analysis reflects actual savings by subscribers under new regulatory framework to the tune 10 to 15 per cent in metro towns and between 5 to 10 per cent in non-metro (DAS 3 and DAS 4) areas.