ITV

Tag: Trai

  • Delhi HC wants to know if DTH players can run FM channels and VAS

    Delhi HC wants to know if DTH players can run FM channels and VAS

    NEW DELHI: The Delhi High Court has sought a response of the Information and Broadcasting Ministry and six direct-to-home (DTH) operators on a public interest litigation seeking to restrain DTH service providers from carrying any channel or value added service (VAS) which are not registered with or permitted by the government.

    The court passed the order on the plea of Hyderabad-based NGO Media Watch-India (MWI) which alleged that DTH service providers carry self-promotion advertisements in violation of uplinking and downlinking guidelines.

    Listing the matter for 4 March next year, a bench of Chief Justice G Rohini and Justice P S Teji issued notice to the Ministry as well as six DTH providers – Bharti Telemedia, Tata Sky, Dish TV, Sun Direct TV, Reliance Big TV and Bharat Business channel.

    Counsel Gaurav Kumar Bansal said that value added services like ‘movie on demand’ or games are provided without specific licence from the Ministry. The NGO has said that even FM radio channels are being illegally provided and has sought orders restraining the DTH operators from providing these services.

    The petitioner contended that the Ministry instead of taking action against these entities has been playing the role of a spectator while “statutory guidelines are being flouted with impunity by the private DTH operators”.

    Meanwhile, the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) had recently issued a consultation on regulating platform services of service provider including MSOs cable operators and DTH operators and has also given the recommendation on 19 November which are under consideration of the Ministry.

     

  • TRAI to issue consultation paper on HD channel subscription charges?

    TRAI to issue consultation paper on HD channel subscription charges?

    MUMBAI: The year 2015 could not be as welcoming as the direct to home (DTH) platforms would be expecting it to be. As per PTI  reports, the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) is looking at reviewing the freedom it has given to the DTH operators in deciding subscription charges for high definition (HD) channels.

    While the first HD channel was launched in 2010 with Movies Now HD, general entertainment channels (GECs) like Star Plus and Zee TV too launched their HD channels in 2011. Today there are about 40 HD channels in the country and DTH operators charge a premium price for them compared to normal standard definition (SD) channels.

     “TRAI is mulling reviewing forbearance regime on HD channels. Consultation paper on the same will be floated next month,” reports PTI. The decision has been taken as the regulator does not find much difference between the SD and HD viewing experience.

     “There is also little difference in the number of advertisements between the two,” the report adds.

     

  • 2014: A year of de-aggregation

    2014: A year of de-aggregation

    2014 was a year when the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) issued, as many said, the ‘death warrant’ for the powerful aggregators. The year started with the regulator throwing the ‘big bomb’ on the channel aggregators by introducing the ‘de-aggregation paper’. The paper clearly stated that the broadcaster appointed content aggregators could not mix and bundle channels from different networks before signing deals with the distribution platforms.

    With the regulation, the once content aggregators were given a new name, that of ‘agents’ who would carry out the deals ‘on behalf of’ the broadcaster. TRAI gave the aggregators six months to dismantle operations, or realign as agents. As part of the regulation, it was the broadcasters who could now sign deals with the distribution platforms either directly or through agents, who could only work on behalf of the broadcaster and not bundle channels from different networks. The regulation came as a shock as it curbed the power of aggregators Media Pro, IndiaCast UTV Media Distribution and TheOneAlliance.

    Soon after, aggregators started disintegrating. MediaPro, the JV between Star Den and Zee Turner was the first to announce its separation. Thereafter, both of them began distributing on their own. Zee Network created a separate distribution entity called Taj Television which would also act as agents for Turner channels. MediaPro CEO Gurjeev Singh Kapoor headed off to handle Star India’s international business while COO Arun Kapoor became CEO of Taj. Soon after this, MediaPro terminated its alliance with NDTV, MGM and MCCS.

    The next in line to break up was IndiaCast UTV, the JV between Network 18 (TV18) and UTV. The last to do so was TheOneAlliance (a JV between MSM and Discovery) which has already announced its decision to break away but will formally happen only on 1 January 2015. Meanwhile IndiaCast will act as an agent for UTV as well as Epic TV channel, while MSM and Discovery will be setting up their own operations.

    While on one hand broadcasters were figuring out how they could deal with the new clause from TRAI, on the other hand distribution issues were being fought in the Telecom Disputes Settlement Appellate Tribunal (TDSAT). The fiercest of them was between Hathway Cable & Datacom and Star India/Taj Television that lasted for nearly seven months.

    The first accusation was from Star when it stated that Hathway had removed its sports channels and placed them as a separate pack. Zee Network was nearing the end of its deal with Hathway and wanted to re-negotiate it with the MSO. Hathway failed to reply on time, leading to disconnection of signals from the broadcaster. Thereby, the MSO took Zee to court.

    After long hearings between the three parties, the two cases got combined and it was settled that till the time the case does not come to an end, Hathway would pay Star and Zee at the rate of Rs 23 and Rs 21.5 cost per subscriber (CPS) basis for their entertainment channels and Rs 4 CPS for Star’s sports channels. The last verdict of the hearing came as the TDSAT directed Hathway to enter into RIO agreements with Taj Television and Star India for the DAS markets.

    When everyone thought that the case would come to an end, Hathway went to TDSAT once again claiming that there would be partiality in providing RIO rates to various platform operators. The case came to an end with Star India coming forth and stating that it would only be executing RIO deals for DAS markets with all distribution platforms from 10 November. Though Taj Television had also been ordered to get into a RIO deal with Hathway, the broadcaster later on signed a CPS (carriage) deal.

    The year’s ending saw much discussion on Star’s incentives that were being provided on the basis of channel penetration, reach and channel placement. While most MSOs vehemently protested against the new RIO at first, in the end they took up the channels on incentive basis and created new packs. Most MSOs decided to put the popular channels on the base pack and give the remaining as separate packs, in higher packs or as a-la-carte.

    The year also saw a rise in the carriage fees, which according to many has risen by 20-25 per cent for niche and news channels.

  • 2014: Cable TV’s year of missed opportunities?

    2014: Cable TV’s year of missed opportunities?

    2014 many would say has been a year of more downs than ups, especially for the cable TV industry. But, if one peels off the superficial layers and looks deep, it would be fair to say that it was indeed a year of opportunity for all the stakeholders in the cable TV ecosystem, despite all the trappings that it had of a Bollywood film with all the drama and twists and turns.

    The year began with industry regulator the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) cracking the whip on errant multisystem operators (MSOs) and last mile owners (LMOs) who had not implemented simple hygiene requirements such as subscriber information and billing in Digital Addressable System (DAS) phase I and II areas. 2014 probably was the most litigious one in recent memory for those in the cable TV ecosystem with the various constituents spending more time in courts or in the portals of the Telecom Disputes Settlement Appellate Tribunal (TDSAT) than in upgrading their systems or moving ahead on business models. LMOs and MSOs snapped at broadcasters and aggregators, even as the latter took swipes at them with their heavy hands. No resolution seemed in sight and hence the anti-climactic postponing of phase III and phase IV DAS to 2016 by the Information and Broadcasting (I&B) Ministry almost came as a lifeline to the industry. Some carped about the postponement, some decided to take it upon themselves to voluntarily digitise, while other LMOs just got back to squabbling once again.

    Even as international strategic and financial investors got repelled by the chaos in Indian cable TV land, domestic lay investors and equity investors too gave the sector a thumbs down. One of the leading stocks, the Sameer Manchanda-run Den Networks, which was the investors’ darling in 2013, registered a 19 per cent erosion in its share price from Rs 161.65 in early January 2014 to Rs 131.30 on 24 December. Hathway Cable & Datacom rose 25 per cent from Rs 278.75 to Rs 347.50. Both underperformed the Bombay stock Exchange Sensex which rose 28.5 per cent from 21,000 on 2 January 2014 to 27,206 on 24 December 2014. However, an exception was the stellar performer  Essel group owned Siti Cable which appreciated 80 per cent from Rs 18.15 to Rs 32.75 on the same dates. 

    November 2014 saw Star India take a big punt and play pioneer by deciding to enter into only Reference Interconnect Offer (RIO) deals with MSOs in DAS areas.  The hope was that it would push cable operators to come up with better subscriber packages and hopefully improve realisations for themselves and Star too. With ARPUs sneaking up marginally, the big MSOs and cable TV cooperatives aggressively moved ahead with the more lucrative broadband offerings to subscribers.

    The year began with the MSOs meeting in different parts of the DAS areas to ensure gross billing could be started. While Delhi and Kolkata could, at least in a few parts start gross billing, Mumbai and other phase I and II cities, even as the year comes to an end, haven’t seen bills being rolled out. The reasons for this being no consensus: on the biller’s name (whether it should be of the LCO or MSO), revenue share between the two and the pending entertainment tax case in the Bombay High Court.

     The next big development in the year was when Hathway Cable and Datacom announced a cricket pack, wherein the MSO created a separate offering consisting of all the sports channels. When the announcement was made, little did people know that the issue would be dragged to the court and would keep the TDSAT occupied for almost the rest of the year. Hathway has been one player that has been in the news throughout, mostly for its progressive moves- from launching new local cable channels, to launching DOCSIS 3 broadband technology. It also wrestled with the major broadcasters such as Star and Zee through the year on terms and conditions.

     2014 was the year of opportunities, as it opened doors for the $100 million Hinduja’s Headend In The Sky (HITS) project and the Cable Virtual Network Operator (CVNO) model. As part of this LMOs can come together and join hands with the MSO to take its infrastructure, thus giving the former the power to own their consumers. The former Indusind Media CEO and promoter of Bhima Riddhi Digital Services Nagesh Chhabria too showed his intent of getting into the cable TV market with a national MSO. A much hyped $200 million announcement – in July about his agreement with Atlas Consolidated LLC (a joint venture between Greenwich Equity Partners and Jagran Infra-Projects led by Sanjiv Mohan Gupta) – to create a national MSO it has been followed by a strange silence since.

    It was a year of opportunity, as after a gap of long seven years, the TRAI decided to defreeze prices and allowed a price hike. The regulator in March, released a notification, offering a 27.5 per cent inflation-linked hike to stakeholders in the tariff ceiling. The hike was to be implemented in two phases: 15 per cent from April 2014 and the remaining 12.5 per cent from January 2015. The move gave some hope to stakeholders to increase their Average Revenue Per User (ARPU) which was at around Rs 180 – a 20-25 per cent increase. But the industry is clearly aiming at much higher ARPUs of Rs 300-350 in the short to medium term. 

    The most important month for the cable TV industry was August. Ask why? Well, this was the month, which shocked the whole value chain.  While the LCOs were relieved, the worried ones were the broadcasters and the MSOs. The newly appointed Information and Broadcasting Minister (now former)  Prakash Javadekar, looking at the condition of phase I and II cities, which had undergone seeding of set top boxes (STBs) decided to further push the digitisation dates for phase III to December 2015 and phase IV to December 2016, from the earlier deadline of December 2014. The reason given by the Minister was that he wanted to promote indigenous STB manufacturers, who had not benefitted much from the earlier two phases.

     The news brought in some cheer for the indigenous STB manufacturers who said that this would help the indigenous manufacturing industry give employment to about 50,000 people and would attract an investment of about Rs 500 crore. The move, according to many would also generate local support facility for repair of STBs and help in smooth implementation of digitisation in the country.

    While, everyone has their own take on the decision, one should take this as an opportunity to be able to complete phase III and IV cities, which includes the small towns and villages, in a much more organised manner. Currently in phase I and II, while boxes have been seeded, no proper rollout of package and billing has happened. The stakeholders have time to ensure that along with seeding of boxes in phase III and IV cities, they can ensure that Consumer Application Forms (CAFs) are filled, the information is added in the Subscriber Management System (SMS), packages are created, offering consumers the option to choose and proper bills are rolled out, bringing in complete addressability and transparency.

     According to many, with delayed digitisation, carriage fees are once again on the rise. According to a Media Partners Asia (MPA) report, carriage fee has gone up by 14 per cent, while broadcasters and MSOs peg this at around 20-25 per cent for niche and news channels. In fact, Colors CEO Raj Nayak at this year’s India panel in MIPCOM said that carriage fees which had come down by 20 per cent are again climbing and have gone back to pre-digitisation rates. Yes, all these can be counted as the drawback of delayed digitisation, but tackling the same is broadcaster Star India’s take on the deals with MSOs.

    The case which kept TDSAT busy this year was the Hathway vs Zee and Star case. It was during this, that Star India, in order to fight discrepancy in deals with MSOs, took a firm decision of entering into only RIO deals with MSOs. While this did hit the MSOs, since their cost of content went up, it did two things. One, it nipped carriage fees and two, opened the doors for the MSOs to increase their ARPUs. In fact broadcasters, who feel that the carriage fees are headed northwards, should consider entering into RIO deals, as was also said by MPA in one of its reports.

     With the extension of digitisation dates, a number of MSOs also decided to opt for voluntary digitisation, which was a welcome move, since it showed the intent of MSOs to see the country fully digitised.

    Keeping digitisation and broadband plans in mind, the year saw a few MSOs raising funds for themselves. Considering the money spent by the MSOs in acquiring content and taking digitisation forward did not match with the on-ground collections, MSOs were left with no choice but raise more funds to complete the task in hand. So while Hathway got board approval to raise Rs 300.80 crore through preferential allotment of shares, Essel Group’s subsidiary Siti Cable Network raised Rs 600 crore through the issuance of securities. Last mile owner Ortel Communications too made its move towards getting listed. The LMO, this year, filed its draft red herring prospectus (DRHP) for its proposed initial public offering (IPO) with the securities and exchange board of India (SEBI). The IPO may raise as much as Rs 360 crore.

    The year also saw the I&B cracking its whip on a few MSOs like Digicable and Kal Cable as their licences were cancelled following refusal of security clearance by the Home Ministry. But the duo got relief from their respective state High Courts and are still up and running. Even as Tamil Nadu former Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa owned Arasu Cable struggles to get its DAS licence, Karnataka state government Minister for Information, Public Relations and Infrastructure R Roshan Baig too showed some interest in entering the cable TV business, this year.

     The cable TV industry, like every year was brought together through one forum organised by indiantelevision.com and MPA, IDOS 2014, held in Goa. The three day event threw light on some important statistics:

    ·         Of the 262 million households in the country only 162 million houses have a TV. Of this, 27 million is taken up by the free to air service providers such as Freedish via satellite and 7 million by terrestrial DD, while the rest comes under cable and satellite.

    ·         Rs 32,000 crore has been invested in digitisation since 2005 with a bulk of the investment coming from the DTH operators followed by the MSOs and LCOs since 2011. Out of this, over Rs 11000 crore in the last 24 to 30 months has been invested by MSOs and LCOs.

    ·         While the cost of all the pay channels on a wholesale basis is Rs 922 to digital platforms, the highest pack price is Rs 550 which is an anomaly and needs correction. Retail pricing is the answer to correct this. And it is competition amongst six DTH, two HITS, five national MSOs and several regional ones and the local cable ops will keep retail rates in check.

     We at indiantelevision.com hope that broadcasters, LMOs, MSOs will take a progressive view towards digitisation of their operations and also becoming transparent with their partners in 2015. The fact is there is a lot of work to be done: more than $3-4 billion are needed to digitise India’s cable TV infrastructure; a large part of these will most likely come from international players.   Many of these who were pacing the sidelines watching the developments clearly got a stomach upset and decided to park their funds elsewhere. Now it is up to the industry to restore investor confidence; that cable TV is a sector where one can see adequate returns. Failing which newer distribution technologies like OTT, video streaming and 4G might end up being good options which video lovers could end up considering.

  • The DTH industry’s big developments in 2014

    The DTH industry’s big developments in 2014

    MUMBAI: 2014 was the year of mixed fortunes for the direct to home television industry in India. The seven players in the industry continued to burn cash as customer acquisition costs continued to stay at high levels, at least one of the players spent a large part of the year looking for a white knight, all the players pushed ahead with their HD offerings in phase I, and II digitisation areas, leading to attractive rises in average revenues per user. The total number of registered subscribers and active subscribers, for all the six DTH players, as per the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) report, as on 30 June 2014 was 67.57 million and 38.24 million respectively. Close to 43.41 per cent of DTH subscribers were inactive till June 2014.

    At least two of the players have started generating positive cash flows during the year, even as new spectacular announcements of preparing launches of Ultra HD or 4K services were made during the year. Fresh debt and equity infusions, efforts to introduce new subscriber packages, and an announcement of new policy directions for licensing DTH by TRAI were the hallmark of the year.

    The DTH industry in the country saw some big innovative changes being made over the year 2014. These helped the industry in adding more subscribers while marginally increasing the average revenue per user (ARPU).

    The year began with three DTH operators, Tata Sky, Sun Direct and Reliance Digital TV being issued notices by the Information and Broadcasting Ministry (I&B) for not showing the mandatory 24 Doordarshan channels. Later on the Ministry also pulled the entire DTH industry for not paying licence fee worth Rs 2066 crore.

    The DTH ops resisted the amount stating that they had been paying the fees on the gross revenue (GR) basis while the government was extracting it on the adjusted gross revenue (AGR). A court case on the same had been pending from nearly four years and is still ongoing. However, Tata Sky and Reliance decided to challenge the same in the Telecom Disputes Settlement Appellate Tribunal (TDSAT) while Sun Direct made an application on its 2009 petition regarding AGR.

    The licence fee case was put in the backburner by the TDSAT stating that since it is relative to the telecom case on licence fee issue, it would hear that case first and then come to the DTH case. By the end of the year, however, the TDSAT agreed to hear the DTH ops separately rather than wait in line, the case is still on. Tata Sky in the meanwhile has already paid a sum of Rs 383 crore to the I&B Ministry, while Dish TV awaits court orders.

    The budget 2014 got some relief to the set top box (STB) manufacturers by reducing the excise duty from 12 per cent to 10 per cent from February to June 2014. However, they continued to fight the entertainment and service tax that was being levied on them since several years while cable operators go without paying it. Dish TV raised the issue with the finance minister Arun Jaitley and then I&B Minister Prakash Javadekar to discuss the multi layered taxes, which however didn’t lead to any conclusive solution on the same. DTH ops are subjected to licence fee, 12. 3 per cent service tax and also entertainment tax at the state level.

    The DTH Operators Association also saw a change of head with Dish TV CEO RC Venkateish replacing Tata Sky MD and CEO Harit Nagpal. Doordarshan ADG Ranjan Thakur who also headed Freedish moved out due to the expiry of his term.

    Freedish has been working on adding several Indian as well as international channels through its auctions while also setting up MPEG-4 boxes alongside MPEG-2 for the interior parts of the country.

    Several new innovations came across last year. Tata Sky introduced a new feature of Karaoke on TV while Videocon d2h came out with a headphone attached to the remote for watching TV without disturbing others. Both of them also were the first ones to introduce 4K HD TV set top boxes in the country. However, the official commercial rollout for both has yet to happen. Tata Sky even did a live telecast of one of the FIFA world cup matches on its 4K TV as a demo.

    Dish TV on the other hand, chose to go local, by introducing customised packs for regional India. A sub-brand ‘Zing’ was launched that would give localised packages in the states of West Bengal, Odisha, Tripura, Seemandhra, Telangana and Maharashtra. The oldest DTH operator also heaved a sigh of relief when after months, it received the nod from the Sri Lanka government to commence operations for its DTH project in the neighbouring country.

    With markets being more receptive, Videocon d2h, which has been planning on launching its IPO since long, went ahead with its filing to SEBI for Rs 700 crore with seven banks managing the share sale. Much of what it can raise will go towards acquiring STBs and outdoor units. Dish TV is also contemplating on starting its own manufacturing unit, though it hasn’t laid any concrete plans on it yet.

    TRAI played a big role when it came out with its DTH licencing recommendation paper which is now pending before the I&B Ministry. The paper restricted broadcasters from owning more than one DPO which is likely to affect Dish TV/Siti Cable under Zee and Sumangli Cable/Sun Direct under Sun Network.

    The paper however extended the 10 year licence period to 20 years while the one time entry has been retained at Rs 10 crore. DTH operators whose licence term expires after 10 years will be allowed to apply for a 10 year extension. The licence fee has been reduced from 10 per cent of GR to 8 per cent of AGR.

    The earlier norm of providing a bank guarantee (BG) of Rs 40 crore was change to the amount payable as a licence fee for two quarters and will have to be renewed year on year till the end of the licence period. New entrants will however have to provide a BG of Rs 5 crore for two quarters and then progress as above.

    The year ended with the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) of India coming out with a scathing report on the management of satellite capacity for DTH service by the Department of Space (DoS). In it, it stated that over the years the DoS has been lagging in its satellite launches that were required by DTH operators, leading to them migrating to foreign operators and loss of revenue to the government. The DoS had also goofed up on charging Sun Direct and Prasar Bharati leading to a loss. On the other hand, its commitment to Tata Sky for first right of refusal for using its Ku band transponders, led to its transponder space remaining idle for years.

  • Broadband target by government needs to be evaluated, says Khullar

    Broadband target by government needs to be evaluated, says Khullar

    MUMBAI: Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) chairman Rahul Khullar said the target set by the government for providing broadband network for all was unrealistic and called for evaluating it. He said it would be simpler to first connect the metros and then look at connecting cities and talukas in a gradual manner.

     “Right now we are sort of deluding ourselves by saying we will achieve 100 per cent and all of you know exactly what has been achieved,” said Khullar. “This can’t be an infrastructure project. Focus on just building the infrastructure is wrong. The entire ecosystem – from applications to services — needs to be developed. The approach should be more practical and realistic,” Khullar added.

     The government plans to link 2.5 lakh village panchayats across the country by December 2016 through the national optical fibre network (NOFN) programme, while promoting initiatives like e-governance, e-education and e-health. The project also aims to ensure that all villages in India have high speed internet.

     In an interview with the Economic Times in August this year, telecom minister Ravi Shankar Prasad had said the government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi wants to ensure a smartphone in the hands of every citizen by 2019. Currently, nearly 74 per cent of the population has mobile phones, most of which though are in the hands of urban Indians.

     

  • “Thanks to fruitful elections, balance sheets look better in 2014”: Rajat Sharma

    “Thanks to fruitful elections, balance sheets look better in 2014”: Rajat Sharma

    The news industry has taken a full circle – from providing welfare information to entertainment to astrology to cricket to sensationalism and now almost pure news taking back the centre stage. In a recent phase, news channels were dominated by frivolous content and Hindi news channels stood as the main suspects. The industry has worked really hard get over it to regain its lost respect. I can now safely say that “NEWS IS BACK”.

    While the news channels have proved themselves as an effective platform for promoting culture, movies, sports and many other activities, at the same time they have played a pivotal and decisive role in tackling core issues like corruption, rape, terrorism and inflation. Relentless coverage of Delhi rape case, Anna Hazare’s Lokpal agitation, 26/11 etc. to name a few stand a testimony to that fact.

    Despite the fact that news channels comprise an enormously important element of the socio-economic and geo-political ecosystem of the country, most such channels are facing monetary issues – characterised by negative pressures on the revenue toplines and ever increasing costs. The current year though may prove to be an exception and the respective balance sheets may look better than explained, because the industry has seen a relatively long and fruitful election season.

    The carriage fees regime stemming out of the analogue pipeline (despite a couple of phases of digitisation already complete) still plagues the industry. However, with the recent developments over the last couple of years, we hope that the actual correction (from digitisation) will start happening in the near future.

    The increased bandwidth due to transition to the DAS regime, will not only push the carriage fee down, but also bring in the transparency that shall further help proper monetary compensation for the operators so that the pressure can further reduce on broadcasters. This will help boost the profitability and further the cause of more investments in developing quality content that will be dished out with better audio/video quality.

    What could have been another blow to the industry, which is already reeling under multiple pressures, a 12 min/hour advertising cap that was introduced by TRAI for all the channels. We are happy that after a series of discussions with TRAI and TDSAT, High Court has finally put a stay on the same.

    I think it’s time now that broadcasters should unite and work towards the growth of broadcasting industry that not only provides employment to thousands but is an important pillar of India’s democracy. In an example of this unity, IBF & NBA along with other industry stakeholders, have created BARC as an alternate to TAM which we are sure will be a transparent and incorruptible currency.

    (These are purely personal views of India TV chairman and editor in chief Rajat Sharma and indiantelevision.com does not necessarily subscribe to these views.)

  • CVNO Alert: Kolkata LMOs sign MoU with Meghbela

    CVNO Alert: Kolkata LMOs sign MoU with Meghbela

    KOLKATA: The Cable Virtual Network Operator (CVNO) in Kolkata is moving fast in order to meet its 15 December launch deadline. In the latest, more than 200 Kolkata based last mile owners (LMOs) have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with city-based multi-system operator (MSO) Meghbela Cable & Broadband Services.

     

    The MoU, which will see Meghbela provide the infrastructure to the LMOs will be valid for 36 months.  

     

    “Yes, the MoU is signed and now based on this, we can initiate our work.  Around 205 LMOs have come together so far,” confirmed Cable Operators Sangram Committee general secretary Apurba Bhattacharya to indiantelevision.com.

     

    “Our brand name will be Meghbela, since the MSO is a DAS license holder. The watermarked logo of the MSO will also be displayed on the TV screen,” he further added.

     

    The nature of agreement is based on the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India’s (TRAI) regulations as well as on the demand and requirements of both the parties.

     

    The CVNO model, according to the LMOs will operate in all areas of Kolkata. “The MSO will levy a minimum price against every set top box (STB),” informed a LMO, who is part of the business model. 

     

    Talking on the cable TV tariff, Bhattacharya said, “While the package rates will be the same but the LMOs will have the freedom to allow discounts from their pocket to subscribers.”

     

    Meghbela Cable has already installed around 1.26 lakh STBs in Kolkata DAS I areas. While in places which fall under DAS III and IV like Haldia, Bankura, Arambagh and Hooghly, the MSO offers 9-10 lakh cable TV connections, majority of which is analogue.

     

    The CVNO model is set to empower LMOs to give their subscribers the choice of channels according to affordability.

  • Commercial and non-commercial subscribers should have different tariff under DAS: IBF

    Commercial and non-commercial subscribers should have different tariff under DAS: IBF

    NEW DELHI: The Indian Broadcasting Foundation (IBF) has said that the Digital Addressable System (DAS) tariff order was violative of Article 14 of the Constitution as it equated ‘equals with unequals.’

     
    Abhishek Malhotra told the Telecom Disputes Settlement and Appellate Tribunal (TDSAT) that the stand taken by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) was also contrary to the stand taken by it over the last 10 years.
    He said that commercial subscribers could not be charged at the same rate as other subscribers who received television signals in their homes.

     
    The bench was hearing the petition by IBF challenging the DAS tariff order issued in July by TRAI relating to commercial subscribers.

     
    In the tariff order, TRAI had said that commercial establishments who do not specifically charge its clients/guests on account of providing/showing television programmes and offer such services as part of amenities are to be treated like ordinary subscribers wherein the charges would be on per television basis.

     
    In cases where commercial subscribers specifically charge its clients/guests on account of providing/showing television programmes the tariff would be as mutually agreed between the broadcaster and the commercial subscriber.

     
    TRAI had also said that the commercial subscriber was to obtain television service only from a distribution platform operator (MSO/DTH Operator/IPTV operator/HITS operator).

     
    The tariff order amendment has been brought out as per the directions of the Supreme Court. It is expected that with the coming into force of these changes in the regulatory framework, the distribution of TV services to the commercial subscribers would be streamlined and the services would be available to them at competitive rates.

     

  • TS Panesar joins Hathway

    TS Panesar joins Hathway

    MUMBAI: TS Panesar, who recently quit Star India as EVP distribution has joined Hathway Cable & Datacom as head-video business.  

    Confirming the news to indiantelevision.com, Panesar, who had a few options to choose from, says, “Distribution has a long way to go and with Hathway leading the way, I think it’s a sector with a bright future.”

    As for the plans for the multi system operator (MSO) Panesar, who joined the company on 8 December, says it’s too early to comment.

    Hathway which has two verticals: broadband and video, created the new portfolio for head-video starting today. “Yes, Panesar has joined Hathway to head the video segment. In his new role he will look after carriage, subscription and placement,” informs Hathway Cable & Datacom MD and CEO Jagdish Kumar.   

    “He will help us grow the video business,” adds Kumar.

    Panesar had been entrusted with the responsibility of handling distribution for national DTH and digital addressable systems (DAS) earlier this year when the JV between Star and Zee- MediaPro was broken. He was earlier ESPN Software India VP for affiliate sales.