ITV

Tag: Yogendra Pal

  • DRM best system as it utilises existing tech, uses less spectrum: Pal

    DRM best system as it utilises existing tech, uses less spectrum: Pal

    NEW DELHI: Even as the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India has scheduled an open house discussion on digital radio broadcasting based on a paper issued by it on 10 July this year, the Digital Radio Mondiale has strongly urged the government to encourage the efforts of digitising the All-India Radio medium wave and short wave transmissions using the DRM standard.

    In its response to the consultation paper, the Indian wing of DRM Consortium has said the government should also facilitate full utilisation and announcement of a roadmap for the complete switchover of radio broadcasting, including the private FM and Community Radio Stations, to digital radio in India.

    DRM Consortium – India head Yogendra Pal, in his detailed response, said that the existing analogue transmission equipment (both AM and FM) can be upgraded to DRM operation, reducing initial setup cost (depending on hardware manufacturer/model)

    He said when upgrading an analogue transmitter to full-digital operation, the same or even more coverage than with analogue before can be achieved, while significantly reducing transmission power, enabling green and cost-optimised broadcast networks for the future

    DRM allows for a flexible trade-off between transmission power, coverage requirements and content capacity, to always enable the most economic operation for any given coverage scenario

    The Consortium “strongly feels that there is an urgent need to frame a roadmap for digital radio broadcasting in all bands. This includes the FM band and private FM broadcasters too.

    There is no doubt that FM analogue radio is a very good standard. It provides stereo audio broadcasting, it is a robust and well established. There are millions of FM receivers and there is demand for the expansion of private FM broadcasting and community radio stations.

    Referring to the usage of FM spectrum, he said available FM spectrum is not sufficient to meet the full demand by Indian broadcasters and the public. FM Band is from 88MHz to 108 MHz that is, 20 MHz bandwidth. One single FM channel needs 200 kHz bandwidth. So, theoretically, there can be a maximum 100 FM channels in the full FM band.  But, unfortunately, neither is a full band available for broadcasting nor can two adjacent channels be broadcast without some guard band. The same FM frequency can be repeated only after about 400 to 600 km, or with a frequency separation of several hundred kHz. Although FM broadcasting is popular, the possibilities for extending the FM coverage in its band of 88-108 MHz remain limited.

    In addition to stereo audio content, analogue FM enables the broadcast of a very low bit data channel. Analogue FM, an early 20th century technology, is a successful standard but, in truth, it has reached its spectrum, coverage and improvement limits. It might be a good solution for here and now but not a strategic choice for the future, with increasing expectations of the public regarding audio quality, service diversity, and added-value services tying radio in with modern media consumption. This, in time, has to be and will be accompanied and, eventually, replaced by the digital, compressed, enhanced features of digital radio. Using only 50 per cent spectrum, digital (DRM) in VHF band is able to offer multiple services on a single frequency, 5.1 surround sound quality and a number of value added services along with significant transmission power savings.

    “So keeping in tune with the vision of the new government, it is time to plan digital broadcasting in VHF (FM) band also using the already adopted DRM standard and thus benefitting from the following salient features:

    1.    Equally supporting all terrestrial radio broadcasting bands, including MW, SW and VHF bands (with the FM band II included alongside band I and band III). The audio quality offered by DRM is equally excellent on all the transmission bands: MW, SW or VHF

    2.    Robust signal unaffected by noise, fading or other forms and interference in all bands

    3.    Clear and powerful sound quality with facility for stereo and 5.1 surround

    4.    More audio content and choice: Up to three audio programmes and one data channel on one frequency

    5.    Extra multimedia content: Digital radio listeners can get multimedia content including audio, text, images and in future even small-scale video, such as:

    a.    Text messages in multiple languages

    b.    Journaline – advanced text based information service supporting all classes of receivers, providing anytime-news for quick look-up on the receiver’s screen; interactivity and geo-awareness allowing targeted advertising

    c.    Electronic Programme Guide (EPG), showing what’s up now and next; search for programmes and schedule recordings

    d.    Slideshow Programme accompanying images and animation

    e.    Traffic information

    Due to the inherent advantages of digital broadcasting, broadcasters the world over are adopting high quality digital delivery systems with TV leading the way. Mandatory digitisation of cable TV networks in India is the example. Digitisation of the terrestrial radio broadcasting is also inevitable. In fact the Planning Commission in 2006 had given timelines for the switch-off of analogue radio and terrestrial TV transmissions in India as well. AIR and DD started taking action in this direction.

    AIR has chosen the ITU endorsed DRM standard, with all technical specifications published and freely accessible to the Indian industry for the digitisation of its terrestrial radio networks. But the task of migrating AIR’s terrestrial broadcast services today is still incomplete. Therefore, it is essential that the full potential of DRM digital radio in MW & SW is soon utilised by configuring the best possible audio quality, finalizing the service selection for each location, and adding value-added services such as Journaline text and EWF (DRM’s Emergency Warning Functionality), and a roadmap is provided for the complete switchover of radio broadcasting, including private FM and community radio Stations, to DRM digital in India. This task, demanded to be carried out immediately by the by the ministry of information and broadcasting (MIB) will require a department-spanning stringent management that also reaches out to the public and the Indian receiver and automotive industry.

    DRM is the newest and most technologically advanced global digital radio standard. It is internationally standardized by ITU and ETSI for digitising terrestrial radio broadcasts in all frequency bands (both AM and FM bands). It is capable of fully serving India’s needs, with all its diverse coverage demands, at low energy costs and with rich and freely accessible features set. DRM is the digital radio standard in direct succession to its analogue predecessor technologies AM and FM. It matches existing ITU-conforming channelization and frequency regulations, and maintains full ownership on the technology, its deployment, product development and roll-out in the hands of the government and industry.

    In January 2017, then MIB minister M Venkaiah Naidu had lauded the national public broadcaster All India Radio (AIR) under Prasar Bharati for having successfully completed phase 1 of the national digital radio roll-out. AIR has completed the installation of the nationwide network of 37 powerful medium and short wave transmitters operating in simulcast  and/or pure DRM mode, resulting from a significant national investment.

    Phase II inaugurated by him is aimed at finalizing the selection of programmes per region, the implementation of all DRM features and the improvement of the content quality provided by those transmitters, and will ultimately result in the official launch of DRM digital radio services by AIR to listeners.

    Though DRM has not officially been launched yet as a service to the public, given that phase 2 of the national roll-out of DRM digital radio by AIR has just started a few months ago, the industry is already showing their commitment and support to be in the market with products once AIR’s DRM services will officially launch.

    Probably the most important factor for establishing modern radio listening habits is the support for AIR’s digital radio roll-out demonstrated by the automotive industry. Mahindra & Mahindra demonstrated their line-fit DRM receiver in car models launched not long ago. Also Maruti Suzuki has launched cars with DRM line-fit receivers. In early 2017, Hyundai joined by announcing two new car models with native DRM support. By late summer 2017 this has grown to a total of five models ranging from entry-level products to high-end cars – all radio sets with DRM functionality included, at no extra cost. Many major automotive brands have scheduled the launch of DRM capable car receivers for India in the next two years, almost all of them based on chipsets developed and produced in India.

    Today India is in a leading position worldwide by rolling out digital radio on a national level using the DRM standard, with great cooperation and product export opportunities into countries all over Asia-Pacific and beyond. Currently countries such as Pakistan (for both local coverage in the FM band and large-area coverage in the AM bands), Indonesia, South and Southern Africa, and many more are in the process of adopting and/or rolling out DRM for national coverage. In addition, a huge portion of the world’s population is already covered by DRM transmissions on international shortwave.

    In the past, several digital radio standards have been thoroughly tested and reviewed by Indian authorities, and DRM was tested, identified and confirmed to be the best suited option for India’s radio digitization needs (incl. the detailed “Report of the Expert Committee on Prasar Bharati” under Dr Sam Pitroda). DRM is the most advanced standard to-date, incorporating the experiences and lessons learned from previous approaches. It utilizes the latest audio codec “MPEG xHE-AAC”, which ensures the highest possible audio quality even for very robust transmission signals.

    From a cost and business perspective, DRM transmission equipment and receivers are easy to calculate and cheap to produce by manufacturers: Firstly, given that DRM is an open standard, no ‘licence’ (or ‘permission to use proprietary technology’) is required.

    All aspects of the DRM technology are published and freely accessible, and no single company or entity owns the DRM technology. There is no use-fee or revenue sharing approaches for the DRM technology – neither for broadcasters nor for listeners.

    DRM can carry up to four services per transmission as a flexible mixture of data and (up to three) audio services

    DRM ensures clear sound with the latest MPEG audio codec technology xHE-AAC, enabling multiple stereo programmes in FM quality on a single MW transmission, stereo services over SW, and multiple stereo or even 5.1 surround services in the FM band

    Thanks to the Journaline advanced text application, DRM makes the broadcast’s rich textual information treasure with news, sports updates and much more, in the past only available on the broadcaster’s web page, available to all listeners right on the radio sets as part of the radio service – free to air, without the need to pay for Internet access, and simultaneously in a multitude of languages with every DRM transmission

    DRM allows the broadcaster to transmit multiple audio and data services in a single transmission, without any extra cost or the need to sign licence contracts

    DRM allows the broadcaster to transmit special or even B2B data applications such as traffic services, without extra cost or the need to sign licence contracts

    The ITU approved DRM standard provides identical functionality on all broadcast bands from large-area coverage in the AM bands to local/regional coverage in the FM band, ensuring optimized and low-cost receiver design

    DRM is the only digital radio ITU standard to also cover national and international shortwave transmissions

    DRM in VHF bands uses less spectrum than current stereo FM broadcasts, whilst additionally deriving the potential benefits of increased robustness, reduced transmission power, increased coverage or additional services: While analogue FM transmissions carry a single audio service within a bandwidth of at least 200 kHz, a DRM digital radio signal carries up to three audio services along with value-added services in better-than-FM quality within only 96 kHz bandwidth for the on-air signal.

    It helps in automatically switch for disaster & emergency warnings in case of impending disasters. In large areas, automatically presenting the audio message, while providing detailed information on the screen in all relevant languages simultaneously. Great potential to become the surest and widest means of alerting the population to emergencies.

    DRM supports multi- and single-frequency network operation (MFN/SFN). SFN operation allows multiple transmitters to cover a common area on a single frequency, which allows for new and more efficient network designs by extending coverage areas with additional synchronized transmitters as required, and solving typical network problems such as signal outages due to shadowing by using small-power gap-filler transmitters. In contrast, analogue FM services required additional individual FM frequencies for each additional transmitter in the network, as otherwise the signal in the overlapping coverage areas would be destroyed.

    DRM supports the automatic hand-over to other frequencies and even other networks (AFS – Automatic Frequency Checking & Switching) once the receiver leaves the coverage area of the currently tuned transmission, and thus keeps the selected service tuned as long as possible while on the move without the needs for any user interaction.

    DRM is fully compliant with the frequency allocations of the current FM and its analogue transmissions. And using DRM’s simulcast operation mode, it guarantees for a smooth transition from analogue FM services to future DRM-only operation by initially inserting the new digital services in the existing FM band without affecting the already existing analogue transmissions.

    The extension of the licence (which should be free, or at nominal cost) would be dependent on the broadcaster getting digital services on the air (within a specified period of i.e. 1or 2 years). This is realistic as the digital signal in DRM is only 100 kHz wide and can be contained within the 800 kHz FM allocation, or it can be placed independently wherever there is a gap in the spectrum (and not necessarily next to the FM frequency).

    DRM suggested a smooth and non-disruptive migration from analogue-only FM to future digital-only DRM transmissions in the FM band over a period of time, and with full protection for the FM licences issued to broadcasters as part of Phase-III and previously. During this transition period DRM’s simulcasting capabilities and flexibility in terms of using gaps in the FM spectrum while peacefully co-existing with analogue FM services (and, thereby, greatly extending the overall capacity of the FM band) are key success factors.

    DRM has recommended the following ‘very flexible’ approach:

    1. Complete the allocation of Phase III of private FM auctions (for 15 years permission as per the existing policy) as early as possible. And as an incentive for going digital, allocate an additional frequency (absolutely free for, say, five years) to each of the successful bidders in VHF band for DRM services with the condition to implement the DRM digital services within a definite period of, say, one or two years. Failing this initial setup term or failing to continuously operate the additional digital transmission at any time during the proposed five-year period, the allocation of the additional frequency for DRM digital should be deemed to be cancelled and available for separate auctioning to third parties.
    2. Allocate an additional frequency (absolutely free for, say, five years) to each of the existing FM broadcasters in VHF band for DRM services on the condition to implement the DRM digital services within, say, one or two years period. Failing this initial setup term or failing to continuously operate the additional digital transmission at any time during the special licence grant (of, say, five years), the allocation of the additional frequency for DRM digital should be deemed to be cancelled and available for separate auctioning to third parties.
    3. Irrespective of whether or not the licencee chooses to use the free additional digital-only, licenced to obtain permission to migrate their main analogue FM frequency to DRM on the existing terms and conditions.
    4. Announce that no analogue radio transmissions (including analogue FM licence extensions) would be allowed after 15 years or at the end of the current FM licence terms, respectively, and develop a policy to renew the licences of the existing private FM players, as and when these expire, for the maximum period of 15 years from now keeping in view the time for analogue transmissions proposed to be allowed to the successful bidders of Phase III.
    5. Within the period of five years, develop and announce plans for the allocation of frequencies for DRM digital transmissions in the VHF band for AIR, private FM and Community Radio Stations. Also keep the requirements in view for the All India Highway Advisory Service in DRM digital proposed to be started by the National Highway Authority of India (NHAI).
    6. AIR should also develop and announce its plan for DRM digital implementation in VHF bands, as well as the remaining analogue MW & SW transmitters, as per the above proposed 15-years switchover period from now.
    7. Develop and announce policy for DRM digital implementation for Community Radio stations also along similar lines.
  • Govt claims almost 100 percent STB seeding in DAS III areas despite cases

    Govt claims almost 100 percent STB seeding in DAS III areas despite cases

    NEW DELHI: Despite the challenge to digital addressable systems in many courts in the country, the government has claimed almost 100 per cent achievement in phase III areas with seeding of about 41 million (4.1 crore) set top boxes.   

    The claim was made by Information and Broadcasting joint secretary R Jaya in the 15th meeting of the Task Force on implementation of phases III and IV of DAS of cable television networks on 30 May 2016 under the chairpersonship of l&B secretary Ajay Mittal.

    In the last meeting on 16 February 2016, it had been disclosed that around 90.44 percent success had been achieved in DAS phase III. During the meeting it was informed that the seeding of STBs by multi system operators increased from 6.91 million to 12.43 million between 31 December 2015 and 15 February 2016.

    But she admitted that seeding had slowed down due to court cases. She also said the figure given by her may include some reporting of seeding in phase lV

    A total of 42 court cases have been filed for extension in the deadline of phase lll in various courts in the country with the 2-month extension by the Telangana and Andhra Pradesh High Court. Other courts followed suit on the grounds that this order was extendable to other areas. This led to the centre moving the Supreme Court which passed an order of transfer of all cases for extension filed in various courts and any new cases on similar prayer to the Delhi High Court for adjudication.

    Seventeen cases have so far been transferred by various courts to the Delhi High Court out of which the High Court had dismissed three cases and another three cases were being heard that same day. A case filed by one Headend-in-the-sky player on the same matter was also being heard in the Delhi High Court on that day (30 May 2016).

    Jaya said more MSOs’ had been given registration since the last meeting of the Task Force taking the total to 870. She said that MSOs’ and broadcasters should now concentrate on phase lV areas and prioritize signing of interconnect agreements for these areas.

    She also asked stakeholders to plan and start launching of publicity awareness campaigns for mandatory digitisation in phase lV areas which is to be completed by 31 December 2016.

    Earlier, Mittal said DAS was a win-win situation for all and so all sectors should cooperate. He said the meeting of the Task Force could not be held since February 2016 due to various administrative reasons.

    He said the consumers deserve better quality reception and other benefits from digitisation. He hoped that all stakeholders would make concerted efforts to digitise the remaining areas under the fourth and last phase of digitisation.

    He said the ministry had planned to hold a fresh round of several regional workshops at various places in the country in the coming months as had been done for the last phase. .

    Advisor (DAS) Yogendra Pal said the ministry has asked all registered MSOs’, DTH & HITS operators’ to enter the seeding data in the MIS system developed by the ministry for collection of data for all the four phases instead of phase lll which they had been doing until now, and update it once in a week. He added that MIS system has suitably been modified for this purpose and 35 operators have already entered seeding data for Phase lV.

    He said that only about 1,000 applications had been received till date in the ministry for MSO registration against the expected number of about 6,000 applications. He requested the members to advise those MSOs’ who are yet to apply for DAS registration to do the same. He mentioned that the ministry had requested the broadcasters to check up with all MSOs’ with whom they have interconnect agreements if they have taken MSO registration for phase lV areas and advise them to do so immediately.

    The members were told that the TV household requirements as per census 2011 data would be provided though this would be district wise and not rural area wise.

    A representative of a Consumer Forum said though digitisation has not adversely affected anybody, much that was expected from the consumer point of view is still awaited.

    A local cable operator from Maharashtra regretted that before implementation of DAS, LCOs’ were entrepreneurs and after its implementation they have become employees of MSOs’. He also said that LCOs’ have been voicing their concerns from the time of the first phase but without being heard.

    The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India regulation on revenue sharing between MSOs’ and LCOs’ is an issue that is still unresolved. He added that MSOs’ are not entering into proper interconnect agreements with LCOs’. He remarked that digitisation under phase lV may not be easy as all national MSOs’ may not be able to cover all areas.

    But a representative of GTPL mentioned that MSOs’ and LCOs’ are separate entities. They sign agreements with each other as principals. Each entity has its defined role in providing the service. He said the government should consider giving some incentives for digitization in phase lV areas. He added that TRAI had also recommended some incentives in its recommendations which were not accepted by the government.

    At this, Mittal said any incentives sought for by any group or sector should get passed on to the people.

    A representative of Hathway said LCOs’ can also become MSOs’. He said MSOs’ have no issues with regard to interconnect agreements with LCOs’. He said on the directive of Bombay High Court, TRAI had prescribed a standard interconnect agreement form after due process of consultations. This form serves as a template for all such agreements.

    He suggested that broadcasters should offer special rates for phase lll and phase lV markets.

    A Siti Cable representative said digitisation had benefitted people as they get greater channel choice and better signal quality. He said extension of deadline granted by various courts for phase lll of digitisation had badly affected the pace of digitization. He added that the MSOs’ are losing out on huge inventory of set top boxes which they are not able to deploy in the field. With regard to phase lV of digitisation, he said the headends installed by them for phase lll will cater to phase lV areas as well.

    A DTH representative said as a result of the extension in deadline granted by various courts, they had to retrench some of their employees whom they had deployed in the field.

    An LCO from Assam complained that one MSO in Assam had served a legal notice to LCOs’ for migrating to another MSO, and consumers had also been served with legal notice for return of set top box bought by them from the MSO through outright purchase. He said the authorized officers in the state of Assam do not take action against MSOs’ who are violating the cable network rules and regulations.

    The TRAI representative admitted that while regulations prescribe three modes of purchase for STBs – outright purchase, hire purchase, and rental mode, standard plans have been prescribed under rental mode only and no price for outright purchase has been prescribed by TRAI.

    Referring to the Assam LCO, he said this would not have arisen if the interconnect agreements entered by MSOs’ with LCOs’ had been clear on every issue.

    He said TRAI had recently started a fresh review of all regulations and consultation process on the same is on. He added that TDSAT earlier used to pass interim orders but had of late it passed orders that were final.

    Mittal hoped that the review of the DAS Regulations undertaken by TRAI is completed quickly and the various grievances of the stakeholders regarding the extant regulations are addressed. He also remarked that there appeared to be lack of trust between the MSOs’ and LCOs’ and TRAI should look at this.

    An LCO from Maharashtra complained that the state government entertainment officers are sealing the control rooms of MSOs’ for non-payment of Entertainment Tax.

    But he was told that only the authorized officers, as defined in the Cable TV Act and Rules framed thereunder, are authorized to take any action for violations of the various provisions of the Act.

    The Advisor said one state government had complained to the ministry that MSOs’ are not giving them access to their SMS system to verify the lists of subscribers. He said that MSOs’ should provide the SMS report to the state governments as and when asked by them.

    An Odisha government representative said the state government has set up coordination committees at state and district level to implement cable TV digitisation in the state. He added that the nodal officers in the state are also checking the MIS data on regular basis. The state nodal officer from the state of Telengana mentioned that 20 MSOs’ operating in the state had not so far entered data in the MIS system. Jaya said that it was heartening to know that state governments are also monitoring the seeding of data by MSOs’ in their states. She mentioned that the MIS system deployed by ministry sends an alert to an MSO in case he does not update his data.

    She said that the regional units set up by the ministry for remain in touch with MSOs’ to ensure that MSOs’ follow the rules.

    A point was raised that LCOs’ are asked by the Head Post Offices to obtain NOC certificate from the state government for issue as well as renewal of their LCO registration. It was suggested that LCO registration be granted for 5 years instead of period of one year as per existing rules. Mittal agreed to consider this.

  • Govt claims almost 100 percent STB seeding in DAS III areas despite cases

    Govt claims almost 100 percent STB seeding in DAS III areas despite cases

    NEW DELHI: Despite the challenge to digital addressable systems in many courts in the country, the government has claimed almost 100 per cent achievement in phase III areas with seeding of about 41 million (4.1 crore) set top boxes.   

    The claim was made by Information and Broadcasting joint secretary R Jaya in the 15th meeting of the Task Force on implementation of phases III and IV of DAS of cable television networks on 30 May 2016 under the chairpersonship of l&B secretary Ajay Mittal.

    In the last meeting on 16 February 2016, it had been disclosed that around 90.44 percent success had been achieved in DAS phase III. During the meeting it was informed that the seeding of STBs by multi system operators increased from 6.91 million to 12.43 million between 31 December 2015 and 15 February 2016.

    But she admitted that seeding had slowed down due to court cases. She also said the figure given by her may include some reporting of seeding in phase lV

    A total of 42 court cases have been filed for extension in the deadline of phase lll in various courts in the country with the 2-month extension by the Telangana and Andhra Pradesh High Court. Other courts followed suit on the grounds that this order was extendable to other areas. This led to the centre moving the Supreme Court which passed an order of transfer of all cases for extension filed in various courts and any new cases on similar prayer to the Delhi High Court for adjudication.

    Seventeen cases have so far been transferred by various courts to the Delhi High Court out of which the High Court had dismissed three cases and another three cases were being heard that same day. A case filed by one Headend-in-the-sky player on the same matter was also being heard in the Delhi High Court on that day (30 May 2016).

    Jaya said more MSOs’ had been given registration since the last meeting of the Task Force taking the total to 870. She said that MSOs’ and broadcasters should now concentrate on phase lV areas and prioritize signing of interconnect agreements for these areas.

    She also asked stakeholders to plan and start launching of publicity awareness campaigns for mandatory digitisation in phase lV areas which is to be completed by 31 December 2016.

    Earlier, Mittal said DAS was a win-win situation for all and so all sectors should cooperate. He said the meeting of the Task Force could not be held since February 2016 due to various administrative reasons.

    He said the consumers deserve better quality reception and other benefits from digitisation. He hoped that all stakeholders would make concerted efforts to digitise the remaining areas under the fourth and last phase of digitisation.

    He said the ministry had planned to hold a fresh round of several regional workshops at various places in the country in the coming months as had been done for the last phase. .

    Advisor (DAS) Yogendra Pal said the ministry has asked all registered MSOs’, DTH & HITS operators’ to enter the seeding data in the MIS system developed by the ministry for collection of data for all the four phases instead of phase lll which they had been doing until now, and update it once in a week. He added that MIS system has suitably been modified for this purpose and 35 operators have already entered seeding data for Phase lV.

    He said that only about 1,000 applications had been received till date in the ministry for MSO registration against the expected number of about 6,000 applications. He requested the members to advise those MSOs’ who are yet to apply for DAS registration to do the same. He mentioned that the ministry had requested the broadcasters to check up with all MSOs’ with whom they have interconnect agreements if they have taken MSO registration for phase lV areas and advise them to do so immediately.

    The members were told that the TV household requirements as per census 2011 data would be provided though this would be district wise and not rural area wise.

    A representative of a Consumer Forum said though digitisation has not adversely affected anybody, much that was expected from the consumer point of view is still awaited.

    A local cable operator from Maharashtra regretted that before implementation of DAS, LCOs’ were entrepreneurs and after its implementation they have become employees of MSOs’. He also said that LCOs’ have been voicing their concerns from the time of the first phase but without being heard.

    The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India regulation on revenue sharing between MSOs’ and LCOs’ is an issue that is still unresolved. He added that MSOs’ are not entering into proper interconnect agreements with LCOs’. He remarked that digitisation under phase lV may not be easy as all national MSOs’ may not be able to cover all areas.

    But a representative of GTPL mentioned that MSOs’ and LCOs’ are separate entities. They sign agreements with each other as principals. Each entity has its defined role in providing the service. He said the government should consider giving some incentives for digitization in phase lV areas. He added that TRAI had also recommended some incentives in its recommendations which were not accepted by the government.

    At this, Mittal said any incentives sought for by any group or sector should get passed on to the people.

    A representative of Hathway said LCOs’ can also become MSOs’. He said MSOs’ have no issues with regard to interconnect agreements with LCOs’. He said on the directive of Bombay High Court, TRAI had prescribed a standard interconnect agreement form after due process of consultations. This form serves as a template for all such agreements.

    He suggested that broadcasters should offer special rates for phase lll and phase lV markets.

    A Siti Cable representative said digitisation had benefitted people as they get greater channel choice and better signal quality. He said extension of deadline granted by various courts for phase lll of digitisation had badly affected the pace of digitization. He added that the MSOs’ are losing out on huge inventory of set top boxes which they are not able to deploy in the field. With regard to phase lV of digitisation, he said the headends installed by them for phase lll will cater to phase lV areas as well.

    A DTH representative said as a result of the extension in deadline granted by various courts, they had to retrench some of their employees whom they had deployed in the field.

    An LCO from Assam complained that one MSO in Assam had served a legal notice to LCOs’ for migrating to another MSO, and consumers had also been served with legal notice for return of set top box bought by them from the MSO through outright purchase. He said the authorized officers in the state of Assam do not take action against MSOs’ who are violating the cable network rules and regulations.

    The TRAI representative admitted that while regulations prescribe three modes of purchase for STBs – outright purchase, hire purchase, and rental mode, standard plans have been prescribed under rental mode only and no price for outright purchase has been prescribed by TRAI.

    Referring to the Assam LCO, he said this would not have arisen if the interconnect agreements entered by MSOs’ with LCOs’ had been clear on every issue.

    He said TRAI had recently started a fresh review of all regulations and consultation process on the same is on. He added that TDSAT earlier used to pass interim orders but had of late it passed orders that were final.

    Mittal hoped that the review of the DAS Regulations undertaken by TRAI is completed quickly and the various grievances of the stakeholders regarding the extant regulations are addressed. He also remarked that there appeared to be lack of trust between the MSOs’ and LCOs’ and TRAI should look at this.

    An LCO from Maharashtra complained that the state government entertainment officers are sealing the control rooms of MSOs’ for non-payment of Entertainment Tax.

    But he was told that only the authorized officers, as defined in the Cable TV Act and Rules framed thereunder, are authorized to take any action for violations of the various provisions of the Act.

    The Advisor said one state government had complained to the ministry that MSOs’ are not giving them access to their SMS system to verify the lists of subscribers. He said that MSOs’ should provide the SMS report to the state governments as and when asked by them.

    An Odisha government representative said the state government has set up coordination committees at state and district level to implement cable TV digitisation in the state. He added that the nodal officers in the state are also checking the MIS data on regular basis. The state nodal officer from the state of Telengana mentioned that 20 MSOs’ operating in the state had not so far entered data in the MIS system. Jaya said that it was heartening to know that state governments are also monitoring the seeding of data by MSOs’ in their states. She mentioned that the MIS system deployed by ministry sends an alert to an MSO in case he does not update his data.

    She said that the regional units set up by the ministry for remain in touch with MSOs’ to ensure that MSOs’ follow the rules.

    A point was raised that LCOs’ are asked by the Head Post Offices to obtain NOC certificate from the state government for issue as well as renewal of their LCO registration. It was suggested that LCO registration be granted for 5 years instead of period of one year as per existing rules. Mittal agreed to consider this.

  • DAS Phase III: Govt claims 75% STB seeding; MSOs claim 50% across India

    DAS Phase III: Govt claims 75% STB seeding; MSOs claim 50% across India

    NEW DELHI: Even as the Government claimed total success in the switchover to Phase III of Cable TV Digitisation from today (1 January, 2016), there were reports from various multi system operators (MSOs) in different parts of the country who complained of shortage of set top boxes (STBs).
     
    An MSO in a city that came under Phase II in Madhya Pradesh told Indiantelevision.com that he had received frantic calls from some MSOs wanting STBs.
     
    Similarly, an LCO in Mumbai said that he had received similar calls from other parts of Maharashtra. He claimed that there was just around 50 per cent seeding across the country.
     
    The Hyderabad High Court has already extended the Digital Addressable System (DAS) deadline for two months in Andhra Pradesh and Telengana.
     
    Meanwhile, the 13th meeting of the Task Force was told on 30 December that more than 75 per cent seeding of STBs had been acomplished.
     
    Describing the progress as “very positive,” an official release today noted that seeding has taken place in most of the notified urban areas with STBs, while the seeding-dark area were only around 400 out of more than 6000 urban areas, many of which had population below 1000 while the rest were in areas having population of less than 5000. 
     
    The seeding figures as shared in the meeting indicated a high level of seeding in the country, to the extent of more than 75 per cent, excluding Tamil Nadu where certain legal matters have restricted the process of digitisation. This figure was expected to be higher when all the registered MSOs provide their final figures. 

    Broadcasters were advised to ensure that no analogue signals are transmitted in Phase III areas after 31 December but without affecting analogue signals in Phase IV areas. 

    It was unanimously decided at the meeting presided over by Special Secretary J S Mathur that looking to the positive outcome of the Digitisation Phase III exercise and the fact that the notification for the cut-off date for phase III was issued more than a year ago, there was absolutely no requirement for extension of the cut-off date. 

     
    The Task Force, where Joint Secretary (Broadcasting) R Jaya and Adviser Yogendra Pal were present, noted that various awareness campaigns, Task Force and MSO sub-group meetings and orientation workshops for the state and district Nodal officers have been held during this period. A multilingual toll free helpline (1800 180 4343) has also been made operational.
  • Subscription rates in DAS phase III & IV expected to be half of that in first two phases

    Subscription rates in DAS phase III & IV expected to be half of that in first two phases

    NEW DELHI: The subscription revenue from phase III and IV areas of Digital Addressable System (DAS) is expected to be between 20 to 30 per cent as compared to 70 to 80 per cent from phase I and phase II areas.

     

    Therefore, channel pricing in phase I and II areas need to be decided for areas under phase III and phase IV so that multi-system operators can plan operation in these areas.

     

    This was stated during the fifth Task Force meeting on phase III and IV held recently under the chairmanship of Information and Broadcasting Ministry additional secretary J S Mathur and attended among others by DAS adviser Yogendra Pal.

     

    Pal informed the meeting that while the centre had sought from all states and union territories (UT) the district wise data of urban areas to be covered in phase III with number of households, only Chhatisgarh and Uttar Pradesh had responded.

     

    Similarly, only around 15 states and UTs had responded to the query about nodal officers, both at State level and district level.

     

    Only Gujarat had responded to the query about nomination of one LCO association from each State and UT for the LCO sub-group.

     

    The states of Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh are still to respond to the query about nomination of a local cable operator association to the Task Force.

     

    Mathur directed that copies of the letters written to State Governments in this regard may be provided to the nodal officers present in the meeting to expedite the pending nominations/data.

     

    Referring to procurement plans and stock of Set Top Boxes (STB) requirements of phase III, the MSOs said they had limited inventory of STBs. Procurement of STBs is taking place according to earlier orders and no new orders have been placed by the national MSOs either with foreign suppliers or indigenous STB companies.

     

    The MSOs stated that they are making arrangements for finances for procurement of STBs for phase III. The position with regard to availability of funds would be clear by the end of February.

     

    At the outset, Mathur said digitisation in phase I and II has been possible due to active cooperation and support of State Governments.

     

    A Representative of Consumer Electronics and Appliances Manufacturers Association stated that they had called a meeting with MSOs in December 2014 but the response was not good. None of the major MSOs attended this meeting. He mentioned that indigenous STB manufacturers are ready to discuss all issues with MSOs anywhere and anytime.

     

    Mathur advised the MSOs to have a meeting with indigenous STB manufacturers to sort out all the issues. He said the Ministry was also planning to hold a meeting with the Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI) on the demand of long-term financing.

     

    When MSOs raised the difficulty of signing agreements with broadcasters, a representative of the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) stated that broadcasters cannot deny signal to MSOs once they are DAS compliant. He suggested MSOs should make a formal written request to the broadcasters for the signal according to the regulations. He added that broadcasters should enter into agreements with MSOs for distribution of content without waiting for the cutoff date.

     

    A representative of a consumer forum stated that computerized billing was not happening in phase I and II areas. He added that CAF forms should be filled before installation of an STB.

     

    For publicising the extension in date for applying for MSO registration for operation in phase III areas, it was suggested that broadcasters run a scroll on their channels. It was also suggested that MSOs download a video spot made by the Ministry and play it on their local channels.

     

    The MSO representatives were told to share the data of existing MSOs operating in analogue regime with the Ministry. The representative of ASSOCHAM wanted that the broadcasters should be apprised for the same.

     

    Regarding publicity campaign, Joint Secretary (Broadcasting) R Jaya said all stakeholders must contribute in spreading awareness about ongoing digitisation in the country. She suggested MSOs should run audio visual ads on their local channels. She also suggested spreading awareness through handbill or printed ads on monthly bills issued by LCOs to the consumers. She called upon broadcasters to plan publicity campaign on their channels.

     

    FICCI, Cll and ASSOCHAM were asked to draw up a plan for workshops for public awareness campaign.

     

    Mathur re-emphasized the need to mount an awareness campaign by all stakeholders particularly the broadcasters. He also asked all the MSOs to begin discussions with indigenous STB manufacturers to meet the deadlines of phase III of December 2015 and phase IV of December 2016.

  • LCOs in Bangalore hold black flag demonstration to protest DAS deadline for 2nd phase

    LCOs in Bangalore hold black flag demonstration to protest DAS deadline for 2nd phase

    NEW DELHI: Cable TV operators from Bangalore and Mysore staged a black flag protest here to oppose the deadline for the second phase of digitisation on 31 March which will cover these cities.

    The protest was held outside the venue of a seminar on the Digital Addressable System (DAS) here.

    Operators associations demanded that the 31 March deadline be extended. The members of the Karnataka State Cable TV Operators Association submitted a memorandum to Information and Broadcasting Ministry’s Technical Advisor Yogendra Pal who also participated in the seminar.

    Their demands included extension of the deadline, changing the revenue-share model with multi-system operators (MSOs) prescribed by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India, and evolution of a licensing frame for local cable operators (LCOs).

    Association President Patrick Raju said the deadline was not feasible and demanded to know the status of implementation in the metros. Countering Pal‘s claim that digitisation was total in Delhi, Kolkata and Mumbai, Raju said the situation on the ground was different.
     
    “Let them set it right there, carry out an honest assessment and then start the next phase. This is being done in haste without consulting us, who are the major stakeholders,” he said.

    Meanwhile, Ministry sources told indiantelevision.com that around 47 per cent of consumers in Bangalore and 38 per cent in Mysore had already taken new digital set-top boxes. The sources claimed that MSOs in the two cities had adequate number of STBs.