ITV

Tag: Trai

  • Hathway plans Rs 1 billion debt for CAS; VoIP launch by year-end

    MUMBAI: Rajan Raheja-promoted Hathway Cable & Datacom plans to raise Rs 1 billion as debt to fund the first phase of conditional access system (CAS). The multi-system operator (MSO) is also preparing to launch voice over internet protocol (VoIP) services by the last quarter of the year.

    “We will require an investment of Rs 1 billion for which we will be raising debt,” says Hathway Cable & Datacom CEO K Jayaraman.

    The bulk of the investments will be towards subsidising the digital set-top boxes (STBs). Funding will also be required in setting up VoIP and expanding broadband infrastructure. The company has tied up with telecom major Bharti for VoIP.

    “We are conducting test runs and expect to launch VoIP services by the year-end. MSOs will have to infuse capital in the changing business environment. On each STB, the subsidy works out to Rs 1,500,” says Jayaraman.

    The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) has fixed the pricing of the boxes in the CAS areas. Cable TV service providers will have to offer digital STBs on a monthly rental scheme of Rs 30 and a refundable security deposit of Rs 999. There will be no payment for installation, activation charges, smart card/viewing card, repair and maintenance cost.

    The cost of the STBs including the smart card is around Rs 3,500. “Once we drive in volumes, the price of procuring these STBs should fall by 15-20 per cent,” says Jayaraman.

    Hathway will also be aggressively pushing digital cable TV in non CAS markets. The MSO launched its digital services in Jalandhar a few days back, having rolled it out earlier in New Delhi, Mumbai, Pune, Bangalore, and Hyderabad.

    “Starting with Jalandhar, we plan to roll out our digital services across Punjab over six months. In the first phase, 16 cities of Punjab will be connected by the end of this year,” Jayaraman says.

    The a la carte pricing of channels will increase the penetration of STBs in CAS areas, Jayaraman believes. “We expect a 80 per cent penetration if the broadcasters get the pricing right within a maximum of Rs 5 per channel,” he says.

  • Time Broadband achieves Asian landmark in IPTV

    NEW DELHI: The Mumbai-headquartered Time Broadband Services Pvt Ltd might not ring a bell immediately, but this media technology company has achieved an Asian landmark.

    Commissioning of a fully integrated content delivery network over H.264 AVC Revision 10 of MPEG4 format as an end-to-end solution on Mahanagar Telecom Nigam Ltd (MTNL) MPLS core and ADSL 2+ access system is the first of its kind in Asia.

    This hi-tech implementation was first recorded on 4 July 2006 at Cavalier Telecom in the USA by Kasenna, which also happens to be Time Broadband’s technology provider.

    “Considering the few weeks gap, the achievement of having a total integrated solution on an emerging technology is certainly a landmark in Indian broadband domain where more than 100 TV channels are to be delivered via digital multi-cast to PC and TV sets by our technology partners,” said Time Broadband MD and CEO Sujata Dev.

    What this means in layman’s language and where does the
    government-controlled telecom company MTNL fit into the scenario?

    MTNL, providing services in Delhi and Mumbai, has associated with Time Broadband to provide IPTV at affordable rates to the telco’s consumers. The services are slated to be commercially flagged off later this year.

    According to Dev, apart from the telephony and internet services, a MTNL subscriber can also subscribe to TV channels, which can be seen either on the consumer’s PC or television set.

    The charges for subscribing to over 100 channels and internet services are likely to be in the region of Rs 400 per month (exclusive of charges for telephone usage).

    Time Broadband, which in no way is connected to the Times of India group, did a trial simulation of the technology in Mumbai on 14 January 2005, the day on which a nation-wide launch of broadband was held by MTNL and its sibling Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd (BSNL).

    On 21 November 2005, Time Broadband signed up formally with MTNL for providing the content delivery network (CDN) and do content aggregation for MTNL to enable rich-media content delivery.

    MTNL, set up on 1 April 1986 by the government, has a customer base of approximately 5.92 million as on March 2006. The government presently holds 56.25 per cent stake in the company.

    Time Broadband, where Sujata Dev’s husband Amit works as the chief tech mentor, has been initially funded by promoters and has received $12 million mix of equity and debt from global investors to move into full-scale rollout plan to 600 tri-band customers shortly in Delhi.

    Next stage of integration would cover uni-cast or the interactive on-demand media delivery, which is to be completed shortly.

    “In IPTV domain, a major challenge faced by a operator is the integration of the CDN components like middleware, content protection, video-on-demand services and head-end encoding components with set-top box. We could successfully integrate the whole system in past six months along with inputs from our technology partners,” said Dev.

    A unique aspect of the whole venture involving MTNL is the content protection or guarding against piracy.

    The content protection technology used by Time Broadband for MTNL’s IPTV service is being provided by Verimatrix and is a mix of session-based water marking and clone-detection capabilities.

    “Broadcasters like Star, Sony and Zee have approved the content protection system of Verimatrix as also major studios of Hollywood as a key defense against the vandalism of piracy due to the forensic tracking, which is invisible but un-destructible,” Dev explained.

    The video-marking added to 128 bit PKI as per AES norms would offer threshold level of protection to all content. The achievement of technical solution is one hurdle crossed but the issues of Regulation and availability of volume based H.264 STB with ‘session-based water-marking’ is still a challenge to be overcome before commercial launch, Dev adds.

    However, a major hurdle in rollout of IPTV services in India is the regulatory body Trai’s present ambivalence on the status of such service.

    Telecom Regulatgory Auhtority of India (Trai) is yet to decide whether to classify IPTV as a television service or make it part of telecom.

    Both MTNL and Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd (the biggest telecom service provider in India in terms of reach) control over 95 per cent of last mile
    connectivity in India.

    The remaining miniscule is with some private players, which are finding themselves handicapped to introduce large scale broadband services in the country in the absence of last mile connectivity.

    Though the set-top box needed to access the MTNL Tri-band service is being imported by Time Broadband for approximately $ 160, in the initial stages the boxes are being subsidised to catch consumers.

    Time Broadband would build and own all the elements of this massive city-wide content delivery network with service delivery platform to operate uni-cast and multi-cast services of rich-media, apart from critical sub-system and peripheral devices.

  • Trai’ng hard but falling way too short

    Trai’ng hard but falling way too short

    Some like it; some don’t. But there’s no denying that the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai)-mandated pay channel prices in CAS areas (Rs 5 for all pay channels) is going to stir up much more than just a storm in the proverbial cup.

     

    It’s like those weekly village markets that are quite popular in India where the refrain is har maal paanch rupaiya mein (every product priced uniformly at Rs 5). The actual price may differ a bit, but the concept adopted by Trai is the same. Reason: low and uniform prices attract buyers.

     

    Faster the adoption of a technology like CAS, sooner more transparency will come into the Indian broadcast and cable industry, which has been plagued by massive under-declaration by cable ops
    _____****_____

    A low price entry point for a new technology — about which myths abound still for the general public — is certainly a good way of incentivising its quick adoption. And, faster the adoption of a technology like CAS, sooner more transparency will come into the Indian broadcast and cable industry, which has been plagued by massive under-declaration by cable operations and other such ills in the absence of any regulation.

     

    But in attempting to keep cable TV as a mass service —- which it is, anyway — and having the prices of all pay channels uniform, Trai has forgotten one important aspect of regulatory process: the cost factor while deciding tariff for a service.

     

    The real boom in the Indian cellular phone market came when players clipped price lines and made the whole process of acquiring a mobile phone connection so cheap and attractive that even a domestic hand found it hard to resist. Who can forget a certain Indian telecom player’s offer of a mobile phone connection with unlimited talk time for a certain period of time and the handset thrown in for Rs 500 under the Monsoon Hungama or monsoon bonanza scheme some time ago?

     

    Trai, which also oversees the telecom sector, may actually take pride in claiming that it facilitated massive growth in cellular phones in the country. The numbers say it all. There are more cellular phone connections in the country compared to fixed line connections. But broadcast industry cannot crow like its telecom counterpart.

     

    Though cable TV service, unlike some others like transport (especially capital intensive railway transport), cannot be categorized as a natural monopoly, the cost of putting together that service cannot be overlooked.

     

    In forcing an entertainment broadcaster to sell its product at a ridiculously low cost, Trai is trying to say Indian consumers don’t appreciate high quality production values.
    _____****_____

    Not as capital intensive as power or transport sectors, cable TV nevertheless does need investments to be made by all stakeholders of the value chain. By presuming that all types of content can be acquired comparatively cheap and revenue generated through volume sales (after all, India now boasts of 68 million C&S homes with all TV homes standing at 110 million), the regulator has highlighted its partial ignorance of how the broadcast business is conducted.

     

    Imagine the plight of Nimbus, for example, which has bought Indian cricket rights for over $ 600 million hoping that the content would help it to price its proposed channel at a premium. But now it would have no option but to price a pay channel at Rs 5 and look at rejigging the whole business model.

     

    There is no denying that the programming costs in the sports, movies and entertainment segments are higher than news or infotainment channels segment. In forcing an entertainment broadcaster to sell its product at a ridiculously low cost — when compared to the input costs of aggregating content — Trai, probably, is trying to say that Indian consumers don’t appreciate high quality production values and can be served shoddy work. Class comes with a price tag and the price decided by the regulator is unlikely to encourage quality.

     

    Could Trai have gone in for differential pricing for some genres of channels? Yes, of course it could have, and displayed a visionary flair in the process.

     

    But as long as regulators like Trai remain hostage to a government’s whims and fancies, it would always open itself to the criticism of pandering to politicians’ wishes, which are mostly based on populism.

     

    Still, there is no gainsaying that the last word on this tale is a long way away from being written. And, if the way the currents are flowing are anything to go by, it could well be on this critical point that Trai’s efforts to usher in the CAS era could fall flat!

  • Broadcasters to file cases individually against Trai order on channel pricing

    Broadcasters to file cases individually against Trai order on channel pricing

    NEW DELHI: A general consensus has emerged in the broadcasting industry that individual pay TV players would legally challenge the sector regulator’s directive on fixing pay channel prices at Rs 5 in CAS notified areas.

    A pay broadcaster today admitted that at a meeting held today under the aegis of Indian Broadcasting Foundation (IBF) there was “unanimity” that the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai)-mandated prices should be challenged.

    Says Star Group India CEO Peter Mukerjea, “Taking legal recourse is certainly an active option as fixing of prices of non-essential services (like cable TV) is tantamount to encroaching on our fundamental right of doing business.”

    “Since no industry body can move a court or a disputes tribunal challenging the pricing, it has been decided that individual companies will legally challenge Trai’s order,” a member of the IBF today said after the meeting.

    However, it has also been clarified that the onus of challenging the Trai tariff order will lie on individual broadcasters and “every pay broadcaster” need not necessarily legally dispute it.
    “A broadcasting company will have to take its own call on the matter,” another broadcaster-member of the IBF added after today’s meeting, which also discussed draft points on a proposed broadcast legislation being contemplated by the government.

    Broadcasters are also seeking legal opinion on how to approach the whole issue of pricing and whether it would make more sense to approach disputes tribunal TDSAT or high courts in various parts of the country.

    However, with the TDSAT presently being headless and not taking up industry issues, the tribunal might not be top priority for the broadcasters.

    Over the next 15 days, expect a spate of cases in various courts challenging the Trai tariff order on cable TV pricing in CAS areas. Unless, of course, the regulator and the government step in to mitigate another legal imbroglio that threatens to engulf rollout of CAS from 1 January 2007.

  • Pay channels fixed at Rs 5 each in CAS regime

    Pay channels fixed at Rs 5 each in CAS regime

    MUMBAI: The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) today set a common price on all pay channels directing that under the conditional access system (CAS) regime they will cost Rs 5 per channel per subscriber per month (excluding taxes).

    The broadcast regulator has fixed the price of free-to-air (FTA) channels in the basic tier at Rs 77 (exclusive of taxes).
    The regulator, which oversees the broadcast and telecom sectors, has fixed the costing for pay channels whether new or existing at Rs 5 making it mandatory to offer all pay channels on a la carte basis.

    However, the broadcasters have been given the option to fix prices of individual pay channels, but within the prescribed ceiling. One of the salient features the regulator has highlighted is that the ‘minimum period of subscription of a pay channel has to be at least four months.

    This tariff will come into effect from 31 December 2006 in Mumbai, Delhi and Kolkata.
    Pertaining to the FTA channels, the price charged will be Rs 77 (exclusive of taxes) per subscriber/ month for a minimum of 30 channels. Additional FTA channels, if provided, also have to be accommodated within the above maximum amount.

    Trai has ensured adequate commercial interoperability, which means that a consumer can easily exit the scheme whenever desired. The regulatory has drawn two schemes for supply of set top boxes by the MSO / cable operators to compulsorily provide as part of a standard tariff package:

    a monthly rental of Rs 30 per digital set top box plus a refundable deposit of Rs 999 per box (refund will be made after deducting Rs 12.50 per month for use of the STB).

    a monthly rental 45 per digital set top box (Rs 23 for analogue set top box) with a refundable deposit of Rs 250 per box (refund will be made after deducting Rs 3 per month for use of the STB).

    The operators can offer alternative tariff packages in addition to the mandated standard tariff package, without any separate charges for installation, activation or reactivation, smart card viewing card and repair and maintenance (for five years) allowed. This salient aspect comes into force from 15 October 2006.

  • Trai poised to finish CAS-related work; price fixing of pay & FTA channels next on the agenda

    Trai poised to finish CAS-related work; price fixing of pay & FTA channels next on the agenda

    NEW DELHI: Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) is close to fixing prices of pay and free to air (FTA) channels, which will complete part of the formalities for rollout of addressability from 1 January 2007.

    According to sources in the regulatory body, which oversees the broadcast and telecom sectors, over the next few days more directives are likely to come on pricing of channels in a conditional access system (CAS) regime.

    The sources said that most major bouquets and TV channels have submitted a formula for pricing of channels for a regime when pay channels will have to go through a set top box on a mandatory basis.

    “Networks like Star and bouquets like Zee Turner and (Discovery-Sony) One Alliance are there with prices of individual channels,” a Trai source said when asked whether a la carte prices of TV channels have been submitted to the regulator or not.

    CAS is scheduled to be rolled out in the south zones of Kolkata, Delhi and Mumbai from midnight of 31 December 2006, as per a Delhi court-mandated understanding that the government has reached with the broadcast industry.

    Trai sources said that over the weekend the regulator is first likely to fix the price of free to air channels, which will form the basic tier in a CAS regime, and then follow it up with pricing of pay channels.

    Trai had asked various pay TV channels to submit a la carte prices instead of bouquet pricing, which was being pushed vigorously initially by a section of broadcasters.

    The regulator had also clarified that if the pricing of a pay TV channel in a bouquet seems unreasonable or on the higher side compared to other siblings, it will then fix a price, which will be valid for a year.

    What is not clear at the moment is whether Trai will okay individual prices of pay TV channels in a bouquet or go in for genre-wise pricing like bunching all movie channels across the spectrum, for example, and then fixing their individual prices.

    It is also expected that the price of FTA channels in the basic tier is
    likely to be more than what was fixed three years back at Rs. 72 (exclusive of taxes).

    This time round, cable operators have petitioned to Trai that the basic tier should be priced around Rs. 150 keeping in view the general inflation and increase in other sundry costs like usage of electricity poles in various cities. These charges are given to local power companies as cable ops use electricity poles to string their own cable.

    According to the sources in the regulatory body, the whole CAS-related work will have to be finished before month-end.

    Over the past few days Trai has come out with directives on quality of service for cable operators and multi-system operators and revenue share formula amongst various industry stakeholders.

  • DTH: Trai supports interoperability, MDU tech

    DTH: Trai supports interoperability, MDU tech

    NEW DELHI: Keeping up its busy schedule on industry related issues, India’s broadcast regulator came out with suggestions on DTH regulations today. The regulator has pitched for mandatory interoperability for DTH services and has okayed multi- dwelling unit (MDU) technology with certain riders in consumer interest.

    Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) today said that the new set of recommendations provide for “clarifications to certain provisions of the (DTH) licensing conditions” and guidelines to be followed in the adoption of MDU technology, which is basically perceived to be in consumer interest.

    According to Trai, the suggested guidelines relating to DTH will ensure that “interests of the consumers,” cable operators and other DTH players are protected.

    Some of the major DTH recommendations are as follows:

    # Personal Video Recorders and Interoperability: There should not be any amendment in Articles 7.1 and 7.2 of the DTH license agreement, which mandate technical interoperability among DTH service providers.

    # The license conditions should be amended to provide for casting an obligation on the service provider to inform and educate the consumers about the limited technical interoperability of the Set Top Boxes with Personal Video Recorders/Digital Video Recorders.

    # Uplinking and Platform Services: The guidelines for uplinking from India should be amended to exclude DTH platform services aimed at enabling the subscribers to utilize the platform efficiently and informing them of platform functionality and services.

    # MDU technology: The DTH license conditions should be amended to specifically permit use of MDU technology subject to the following conditions:
    a. The DTH service provider should not insist on any exclusive arrangement for installation of MDU technology to the detriment of other distributors of TV channels.
    b. Signals from the MDU technology shall not be provided to a consumer outside the multi-dwelling unit building, where the MDU technology is installed.
    c. The MDU technology should not carry the content from any other service provider other than the DTH service provider and
    d. The DTH operator shall obtain written consent from those subscribers living in a multiple dwelling unit who are desirous of availing the facility of MDU technology, before installing the same. A general permission obtained from office bearers of the Residents Welfare Association/group housing society will not be considered sufficient.

    The government had sought Trai’s views regarding certain issues relating to the licensing provisions of DTH. A full text of Trai’s suggestions could be accessed at www.trai.gov.in.

  • Trai fixes revenue share for stakeholders; carriage fee to stay with MSOs

    Trai fixes revenue share for stakeholders; carriage fee to stay with MSOs

    NEW DELHI: The Indian broadcast regulator has finally legitimised carriage fee or the payment TV channels make to be on tunable bandwidths and cable networks. The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) has also set the revenue sharing model for industry stakeholders.

    Trai said today that from the revenue generated from pay channels, broadcasters will keep 45 per cent, multi system operators (MSOs) 30 per cent cable operators 25 per cent.

    Additionally, carriage fee is to be retained fully by MSOs, while the basic tier services fee will be retained fully by local cable operators.
    MSOs, according to Trai, can operate throughout a CAS area without any restriction on area of operation.

    The objective of having standard interconnection agreements is to ensure that implementation of CAS does not get delayed in case service providers fail to enter into mutually acceptable interconnection agreements through negotiation within the stipulated time.

    In a statement, the regulator said that apart from providing standard interconnection agreements, those dated 10.12.2004 have also been amended to prohibit such clauses in interconnection agreements that would require a distributor of TV channels using an addressable system to pay a minimum guaranteed amount as subscription fee.

    Some of the highlights of the standard interconnection agreements are as follows:

    # The service providers are at a liberty to enter into mutually acceptable interconnection agreements which are different from the standard interconnection agreements

    # If any of the service providers in the CAS areas are not able to arrive at a mutually acceptable interconnection agreement within a time-period specified by the Authority, then they shall be required to enter into interconnection agreements as per the standard interconnection agreements

    # The standard interconnection agreements between broadcasters and multi system operators have been provided only for pay channels.

    # Term of standard interconnection agreements to be 12 months.

    # All service providers in CAS areas who do not have pre-existing interconnection agreements as on the date of issue of this Regulation and who are not able to arrive at a mutually acceptable agreement shall enter into interconnection agreements as per standard agreements within 10 days of the receipt of permission by MSOs from the government.

    # All the service providers in CAS areas who have a pre-existing interconnection agreement appropriate for operating in a CAS area as on the date of issue of this regulation, but are unable to arrive at a mutually acceptable agreement within 30 days of the expiry of the pre-existing interconnection agreement, shall enter into standard interconnection agreements within 30 days of the expiry of the pre-existing interconnection agreement.

    Other details of the regulator’s latest directives on interconnect are available on www.trai.gov.in.

  • Trai issues regulations on quality of cable TV service

    Trai issues regulations on quality of cable TV service

    NEW DELHI: Cable TV consumers are in for a pleasant surprise as cable operators will now be put under stringent monitoring relating to quality of service.

    India’s broadcast regulator today issued detailed regulations prescribing standards of quality of service to be observed by the cable operators and multi system operators in CAS notified areas of Mumbai, Kolkata, Delhi and Chennai.

    The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) said the regulations would come into effect from 1 October, 2006.

    The regulations have been drawn keeping in view the facts that the industry would be subject to prescription of quality of service standards for the first time and, therefore, would need time to adjust on various quality of service aspects.

    The issues addressed in the regulations broadly cover the following areas:

    (i) Connection, disconnection, transfer and shifting of cable services
    (ii) Complaint handling and redressal in respect of cable services
    (iii) Billing Procedure and billing related complaints
    (iv) Set-top box related issues and complaints
    (v) Positioning of channels / taking the channel off air

    A snapshot of the major features of these regulations categorized under the above-mentioned broad areas are indicated below:

    Application for connection/disconnection/transfer/shifting
    * Application for pay channel or request for basic service tier to be responded within five working days.
    * Cable Service connection/reconnection to be provided within 2 working days on completion of all formalities by the subscribers.
    Complaint handling and redressal
    *Multi System Operator/Cable Operator to maintain customer service center/help desk center for 24 hours, 7 days a week including facility for automatic recording of complaints.
    *All complaints received in the day to be attended/responded within eight hours.

    Billing related issues
    * Billing to be done normally on monthly basis and entries to be itemized.
    *Subscribers required to ensure prompt payment of bills. Deterrents to discourage delayed payments
    *Redressal of complaints on billing within 7 days from the date of notice.

    Set Top Box (STB) related issues
    * MSO/Cable Operator to repair or replace within 24 hours of receipt of complaint of malfunctioning of set top box and refund of security deposit within seven days of return of set top box.

    *Rebate for delay in activation/reactivation of set top box beyond two working days @ Rs 15 per day for the first 5 days and @ Rs 10 per day for the subsequent period

    Positioning of channels/Taking the channel off air
    *No channel to be taken off the air, except for circumstances beyond the control of the operator, without prior notice of three weeks.

    The High Court of Delhi on 20 July 2006 had directed implementation of CAS in the three metros of Mumbai, Kolkata and Delhi by 31 December 2006.

    One of the areas identified in the implementation of CAS was prescription of quality of service standards by Trai, which has been now done after consultations with the industry stakeholders.

    A full text of the regulation along with the explanatory memorandum is available on Trai’s website, www.trai.gov.in.

  • Fix basic tier rate above Rs 100: Cable ops to Trai

    Fix basic tier rate above Rs 100: Cable ops to Trai

    MUMBAI: The basic tier monthly rate of Rs 77 (excluding taxes) in conditional access system (CAS) areas is unrealistic and should not be below Rs 100, cable TV operators told the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI).

    Six stakeholders have posted their views to the broadcast and cable regulator. Trai had sought views from the industry on the draft tariff amendment order notification for fixing the basic tier rate.

    The common argument laid down by the cable operators was that the price for the 30 FTA channels did not take into account the distribution cost through franchisee operators.

    According to clause 3B in the Telecommunication (Broadcasting and Cable) Services (Second) Tariff Order, 2004 (6 of 2004), “The maximum amount, which a cable operator may demand from a subscriber for receiving the programmes transmitted in the ‘basic service tier’ provided by such cable operator shall not exceed Rs 77 per month exclusive of taxes, for a minimum of 30 FTA channels. Free-to-air channels, over and above the basic service tier, would also be made available to the subscribers within the maximum amount mentioned above.”

    The views posted by New Delhi-based Cable Operators Federation of India (COFI) said, “Only one multi-system operator (MSO) headend was considered and not the distribution cost through franchisee operators who maintain their own offices, technical maintenance staff, collection staff etc. Quality of service was not considered while calculating number of subscribers and the number of subscribers was based on extended network of the MSO prevailing at that time.”
    “The cost of FTA channels has to be reworked. Even as per our calculations submitted to the Ministry in 2003 the cost was Rs.180. One option is to use the benchmark of Rs 125, which was the charge for 15 to 20 channels in 1994 when there were no pay channels.”

    Pointing out the need for reworking the cost of FTA channels, the Federation said, “Even as per our calculations submitted to the Ministry in 2003 the cost was Rs.180. One option is to use the benchmark of Rs 125, which was the charge for 15 to 20 channels in 1994 when there were no pay channels.”

    A minimum of Rs 150 should be charged for the basic tier considering the fact that TRAI does not want last mile operators to pay for the FTA package to the MSOs. An amount of Rs 30 to Rs 50 is being paid at present to MSOs, the Federation added..

    Hathway Cable and Datacom has suggested a basic tier price of Rs 100 per month (excluding taxes). This will work out to not less than Rs 150 a month.

    “The cost of materials like cable, amplifier, and electronics have gone up significantly. And other components such as power and fuel in delivery of the services have also risen sharply in the last one to two years,” the MSO expressed to Trai.

    According to cable TV industry observer Col V.C Khare, “The rate was arrived at for a network spectrum 47-550 MHz transporting 62 channels, with a customer base of 32000 and a radius of operation of 7.5 kms on coaxial cable.”

    “Technically, head ends using 500 series trunk cable over 47-862 M Hz and transporting 90 channels cannot deliver signal quality per IS 13420 beyond 4.8 kms cable length, with a cascading limit of 16 amplifiers. The subscriber base of 32000 was high as independent head ends were having 18000 subscribers on an average. On the other hand, networks have consolidated with fiber, 120 digitally compressed signals, encryption and SMS hardware installed. If the upward and downward adjustment in cost for the above factors is taken into account the cost of Rs.72 as prorated would give at least a minimum cost of Rs.100 (exclusive of taxes),” he argued.

    National Cable & Telecommunications Association (NCTA) president Vikki Choudhry has suggested a monthly subscription rate of Rs 180. “A price below this level will result in deficiency in quality of service for the consumers, non-conformity with the provisions of CAS and Standards of BIS, no investment in network upgradation or maintenance, loss of employment, incentives most broadcasters to keep (or convert) their channels into pay, loss of revenue to the Indian Government and encourage under declaration by the cable service providers of FTA subscribers.”