Tag: Zee Group

WWIL, Zee News begin trading; price range as per market expectations

MUMBAI: The debut performance of Wire & Wireless India Ltd (WWIL) and Zee News Ltd (ZNL), Zee Group’s demerged entities, on the boursess was along market expectation lines.

Though WWIL, the cable distribution company, opened at the BSE much lower at Rs 80, it inched up to touch a high of Rs 139.80 before closing the day at Rs 120.80. Putting their faith on digitalisation, analysts had predicted the scrip to trade in the region of Rs 120-140.

ZNL, on the other hand, opened higher at Rs 50 even as the market had expected it to be valued at Rs 35. The scrip touched a high of Rs 58.85 before tapering off to a low of Rs 33.65 and closing Wednesday’s trading at Rs 34.40.

Speaking to a business channel, Zee Group chairman Subhash Chandra said WWIL would touch a revenue of Rs 10 billion in 12 months but the company would still not be profitable as it is in an investment mode. The multi-system operator (MSO) has already seeded 155000 set-top boxes (STBs) in the Cas (conditional access system) areas, enjoying a 50 per cent market share.

ZNL should end the current fiscal with a revenue of Rs 1.8-2 billion and the target in five years is to have a turnover of around Rs 10 billion, Chandra said. The company is planning to launch a Marathi news channel this month.

Meanwhile, another media and entertainment company listed on the bourses today. Shree Ashtavinayak Cine Vision closed at a premium of Rs 228, or 42 per cent higher from its IPO price.

January 10, 2007

‘Cable ARPUs in Cas areas to touch Rs 400 in five years’ : Jagjit Singh Kohli

Subhash Chandra is betting big on his cable TV business. Wire & Wireless Ltd (WWIL), the demerged entity of Zee Group, plans to invest Rs 7.14 billion over two years. A major chunk of this will be consumed by set-top boxes (Rs 3.28 billion) and customer acquisition (Rs 1.14 billion) as he attempts to hold grip in the distribution business.

When WWIL gets listed sometime in January-February, investors will have a touch and feel of the valuation that cable business will enjoy in the digital era.

Launching the aggressive drive, WWIL CEO Jagjit Singh Kohli says he has ramped up 250,000 customers at an average valuation pegged at Rs 2000 per subscriber. The ambitious target in year five: 9.6 million.

In an interview with Indiantelevision.com’s Sibabrata Das, Kohli elaborates on the steps WWIL is taking to emerge as a leading multi-system operator (MSO) with plans to launch Headend-In-The-Sky (HITS) and STBs that have internet and VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) capabilities.

Excerpts:

Is WWIL close to roping in a strategic investor?

We are in talks with both strategic as well as financial investors. They have shown interest in our business. We would go with anybody who gives us the maximum valuation.

What is the valuation WWIL is now getting?

The investors are discussing of valuations in the range beyond $600 million. Our expectations are higher. We are likely to get listed by mid-January or early February. The true valuations will come out then.

Are investors valuing the cable TV business based on the number of subscribers or future revenues?

In India, it is too early for a subscriber-based valuation. Investors are using the discounted cash flow method. The valuations are obviously based on our future target of touching 9.6 million subscribers. There are two reasons why we will get valued more: we are doing Headend-In-The-Sky (HITS) and we are using set-top boxes (STBs) designed by Pacenet which will offer multiple usages like internet and VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol).

MSOs will have to make major investments on STBs. Is it going to comprise as high as 46 per cent of your overall investments?

We are planning to invest Rs 7.14 billion in the business over two years. For STBs, our fund requirement could be Rs 3.28 billion. We are planning to pump in Rs 2.21 billion towards hardware. Another area where we will be aggressive is customer acquisition. We plan to put in Rs 1.14 billion for this.

What is the debt to equity ratio and how are you meeting the initial fund requirement?

The ratio will be firmed up once we know the price WWIL quotes after getting listed in the exchange. That in a way will determine how much debt component we would require to raise. Our initial fund requirement is Rs 5 billion. We have lined up a debt of Rs 2.15 billion. We have already got Rs 500 million from Infrastructure Development Finance Corporation (IDFC).

WWIL is on a drive to acquire customers. What is the price of acquisition?

We are offering to cable operators a valuation of Rs 2000-3000 per subscriber. While WWIL will be a 51 per cent partner, the balance 49 per cent will be with the operators. We have already ramped up 250,000 subscribers in recent months through aggressive acquisitions.

What is the average valuation for acquiring 250,000 subscribers?

The average valuation works out to Rs 2000 per subscriber.

Won’t you have to handle too many operators by doing JVs with them?

We are making proposals to networks with decent size. In Mumbai, for instance, 12 local operators are creating a company and entering into a JV with us. We want to reduce the number of JVs. Otherwise, it will be impossible to manage.

In some of our acquisition models, we make MSOs buy out the local cable operators.

We have set a target of ramping up our direct subsciber base to 9.6 million within five years. We expect 7.6 million to receive digital cable. Our aim is to have 4.4 million through our own digital cable service and an additional 3.2 million through our HITS platform. We will have two million through analogue acquisitions. We have expanded operations from 35 to 43 cities. We plan to be in 66 cities in three years.

WWIL has a thin presence in Mumbai. Even in the lucrative market of South Mumbai, which is a Cas notified area, you have a negligible presence. What are you doing to correct this?

We have linked up optic fibre and have commissioned a digital headend a few days back at Worli. We will be in the Cas notified area of south Mumbai and several operators from rival MSOs are joining us. We have acquired control over 5 Star which operates in Andheri, a western suburb of Mumbai. We have also poached a few operators from Incablenet in Andheri East and others from rival MSOs are joining us.

‘The average valuation of acquiring 250,000 customers works out to Rs 2000 per subscriber.‘

How are you expanding your footprint in Delhi?

In Delhi, we have acquired a 51 per cent stake in Satellite Channels. We have also signed up with Spectranet and Sanjay Cable Network. All these MSOs were disqualified for Cas as they were found not ready by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) for making the switchover to addressable system by 31 December. As for Kolkata, we are very much a dominant player after buying out Indian Cable Net (formerly RPG Netcom), a leading MSO, in May 2005.

What is the price of the STBs?

While the cost of the basic box is Rs 2000, the one with internet is Rs 2500 and internet plus VoIP Rs 3000. Customers can enjoy interactive games and online share trading through this. We are looking at a monthly fee of Rs 70 for internet and Rs 75-100 for movie-on-demand. Subscribers will have to pay Rs 1499 as deposit and Rs 45 as monthly rent. We haven’t, though, arrived at the final pricing. We plan to introduce the internet-enabled boxes after two months and those with VoIP sometime in April.

Who are your STB vendors?

We have Korean and Chinese vendors who will be supplying us the boxes. We have also ordered 200000 STBs from Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL).

Earlier, in 2003 when Cas was to be introduced, Pacenet had ordered STBs from TVS Electronics. Why haven’t you included them in the list?

We are also considering them. But at this stage it makes more business sense to import the boxes.

Were you doing some tests with BSNL for VoIP?

We were testing out whether our technology would work on BSNL’s network. The tests were successful.

Is WWIL serious on launching a HITS platform or is it a mere hype?

We are going to do HITS and have expressed our intent to broadcasters. This will provide us a national footprint and hasten the pace for digitisation in the country. We can tap cable operators even in places where WWIL has no presence. We have booked four transponders on Thaicom satellite with effect from 1 January, with the option of taking three more. We plan to launch HITS before the end of February.

Do you see ARPUs (average revenue per user) falling in a Cas regime?

For one year, it may come down. Let us not forget that cable TV rates have been suppressed for artificial reasons for too long. But by deploying STBs, this scenario is going to change. We may start off with an ARPU of Rs 250 per month, but like in case of cinema theatres with the launch of multiplexes, this will go up. By year five, we may be looking at ARPUs in the region of Rs 400.

Hathway Cable & Datacom has come out with bouquet packages along with the a la carte choices. Will you offer something similar?

We will be introducing a combo package where consumers who buy STBs on outright purchase and take annual subscription will be offered an attractive subsidy. This scheme will make available 100 TV channels. We will be offering under this at least 20 pay channels. We will be subsiding the boxes.

Unlike DTH, broadcasters will have to make their pay channels available on an a la carte basis at a maximum rate of Rs 5 on cable networks in Cas areas. Will this mean that they will do content deals where they give their bouquets to MSOs at lower cost than to DTH service providers? Otherwise, MSOs can create bouquets picking and choosing the best channels and dumping the weaker ones in the bouquet.

Yes. If broadcasters don’t do that, they will always be faced with the dilemma that the MSOs can pick and choose the stronger channels in their bouquet while ignoring the rest. The other reason why we should get better costs than DTH is because we have to share the revenue with the distributors and local cable operators across the value chain.

How does cable compare with telecom operators in triple play service?

Indian cable systems are ready to do telephony. They have pipes already laid including ethernet. The cable architecture throughout the country is in a position to provide triple play. All that is required is the box and IP can provide the return path for voice, data and interactive services.

The public sector telcos, on the other hand, require strong compression technologies and ADSL2+ signals are good only for distances up to 1.5 km. The private sector telcos do not have a system suitable for large scale deployment and will require a high capital cost of $300 per line, even if we take the fact that their network is ready for IPTV (which is not the case). IPTV could have happened in markets where ARPUs are high. But India is not a high ARPU market.

December 26, 2006

WWIL to pump in Rs 3 billion over 2 years in STBs

MUMBAI: Wire & Wireless India Ltd. (WWIL), the demerged cable outfit of Zee Group, is planning to invest Rs 3.28 billion on set-top boxes (STBs) over a period of two years to spread its presence in digital cable.

This will comprise 46 per cent of its overall funding requirement of Rs 7.14 billion. The next big expenditure will be towards hardware. The multi-system operator (MSO) has earmarked Rs 2.21 billion for investments in hardware during the two-year period.

“We have planned such investments for two years. We are bullish about digitalisation,” says WWIL CEO Jagjit Singh Kohli.

Another area where WWIL will be pumping in big money is customer acquisition. The company plans to put in Rs 1.14 billion towards this. “We are aggressive on customer acquisition. We have ramped up 250,000 subscribers in recent months through aggressive acquisitions,” says Kohli.

WWIL has made MSO acquisitions in Lucknow, Shimla, Agra, Nagpur, Pune Jalgaon and Indore. It is under negotiations with 15 MSOs in places like Meerut, Allahabad, Jaipur, Noida and Kohlapur.

The company is planning to launch a headend-in-the-sky (HITS) platform and has booked transponders on Thaicom satellite. It has already lined up a debt of Rs 2.15 billion and plans to make an initial investment of Rs 5 billion.

WWIL recently set up a digital headend at Worli in Mumbai. “We already have nine digital headends,” says Kohli.

December 23, 2006
HC adjourns Star, Sony case against Trai to 18 Jan

NEW DELHI: The Delhi High Court bench hearing the case on the issue of the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India’s (Trai) constitutional standing to be a regulator was adjourned after a sizeable time spent in hearing the initial arguments from both ESPN and Sony as well as the multi-system operators (MSOs). The issue will come up for hearing again on 18 January.

The MSOs, who are supporting Trai, were represented by Dr Abhishekh Singhvi, CS Vaidyanathan and Aryama Sundaran, whereas the boradcasters’ consel was Soli Sorabjee. ESS and Sony had moved the Delhi HC, challenging Trai’s constiutional standing.

The court heard the initial arguments and felt that since the parties concerned have not completed filingrejoinders and counters the matter may be postponed till the next date.

The case relates to the cable rules empowering Trai as CAS regulator. The High Court is hearing only the constituional issues on the matter and the quantum issues are beig heard by TDAST.

Spokesperson for the MSOs refused to divulge details of the arguments as the matter is subjudice, and the counsel was not available till late evening.

Tomorrow, hearings are slated for three cases in TDSAT. The first is on a appeal by ESPN on the August 24 order Trai of fixing tariff at Rs five per pay channel, and second is also an appeal by ESPN against the Trai order of 24 August on distribution margins for pay channels, which as per the order stand at 45 per cent for broadcasters, 30 per cent for MSOs and 25 per cent for local cable operators. The issue of Cas rule relating to signing of a standard contract is also coming up during this hearing, with the MSOs opposing the ‘forcible’ signing of a contract.

The third case also relates to the same issues, on an appeal filed by Sony Entertainment Television.

The Surpeme Court will hear the final arguments in the case filed by Sea TV, an affiliate of Zee Group based in Agra, on the issue of underdeclaration of the number of households by the cable operators.

Sea TV had applied for access to Star channels two years ago, and the broadcaster had said that they had given access to Moon TV. Sea TV should get the signal from Moon TV, Star had pointed out. However, Zee had intervened saying Sea TV was bound to be given access and had disputed that an MSO (in this case the Moon TV) or an LCO can be an agent of a broadcaster, which was the genesis of the case being heard.

December 11, 2006
India not on EchoStar radar ‘in the near term’

HONG KONG: Regulatory blips and other on-ground problems notwithstanding, India is too big a market to be ignored for long by investors, says Scott Zimmer, senior advisor to EchoStar chairman Charlie Ergen.

“Both India and Vietnam are big markets… (however) it also means bigger opportunities, bigger challenges and bigger hurdles,” Zimmer says.

Headquartered in Colorado in the US, EchoStar Communications Corporation is a public company with approximately 21,000 employees. The company and its subsidiaries deliver direct broadcast satellite (DBS) television products and services to customers worldwide, apart from recent interests in mobile television.

“We are always looking for opportunities in various parts of the world and India is no exception,” Zimmer told Indiantelevision.com here today on the sidelines of the annual convention of Cable and Satellite Broadcasting Association of Asia (Casbaa).

However, he added that there are no immediate plans from EchoStar to invest in India, though Zimmer spent a few days recently in Mumbai to have first-hand information on Asia’s largest market after China.

In the short to medium term I don’t see ourselves making any commitment in India. But it’s too big a market to be ignored for too long by anybody,” Zimmer said.

According to him, whenever EchoStar gets into India it would be with a local partner and it’s “important to find the right partner.”

“India does have some DBS services (read DTH platforms) and I expect some more players to come,” Zimmer said, adding that the Zee group should have its work cut out to take on a “gorilla” like Tata Sky.

While Tata Sky, India’s second pay DTH platform, is a joint venture between the Tatas and News Corp, the Subhash Chandra-controlled Dish TV is chugging along without a foreign partner.

Indian media norms allow foreign direct investment of up to 20 per cent in a DTH venture and it is a subject of much debate within the industry whether this percentage should be increased or not.

Zimmer, however, refused to make any comment when asked whether he had held exploratory talks with the Essel/Zee group during his last visit to Mumbai.

“It would be improper on my part to make any sort of comment … (but) both the Zee Group and EchoStar share same sort of heritage in the sense that both grew from scratch,” Zimmer said.

Still, the man advising the legendary Ergen points out that while EchoStar’s competitor’s during the early stages were also growing in the US, the Zee group in contrast has a “gorilla like the Tatas” competing with it.

Zimmer also feels that what could be shying away some foreign investors from India is the presence of “strong and dominant” Indian companies like the Tatas and Reliance.

As per EchoStar’s website, the company story began in 1980 when chairman and CEO Charlie Ergen entered the satellite television industry as a distributor of C-band TV systems. Joined by his wife, Candy, and friend, James DeFranco,
EchoStar Communications Corporation was formed.

In 1987, EchoStar filed for a DBS license with the Federal Communications Commission and was granted access to orbital slot 119° West Longitude in 1992. The company started its own DBS service on 28 December, 1995 with the launch of EchoStar I satellite.

That same year, EchoStar established the Dish Network brand name. EchoStar II, launched on September 10, 1996, and expanded Dish Network’s capacity. Presently, the 14 owned or leased satellites that make up the EchoStar fleet have the capacity to provide thousands of channels of digital video, audio and data services via Dish Network service to homes, businesses and schools throughout the United States.

October 26, 2006
MSOs get CAS authorisation letters

MUMBAI: The government’s CAS rollout plan continues apace. All the major MSOs today received “CAS authorisations” from the sector regulator, which clears the way for the public awareness campaigns to kick on the stipulated date of 15 October.

According to IndusInd Media & Communications executive director Ashok Mansukhani, the letters issued by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) are dated 30 September and authorise an MSO to operate in the cities of Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkata and Chennai “in the areas notified under Section 4(a) of the Cable Act 1995 as per 11(2) of the cable rules 1992 as amended in 2006.”

Says Mansukhani, “These letters clear the way for MSOs to seek authorisation from broadcasters to enter into revenue share agreements with broadcasters and operators in terms of the August 24 interconnect regulation and the August 31 tariff order issued by Trai. It also clears the way for us kick off the CAS awareness campaign by the mandated date of 15 October.”

Executives in the Zee Group promoted WWIL (earlier Siticable) also confirmed receiving the CAS authorisation letters.

It was on 18 September that Trai issued a directive that the date for starting public awareness campaign by permitted MSOs in CAS notified areas will be not later than 15 October. This directive was further to its earlier order specifying standards of quality of service to be observed by the MSOs / cable operators in CAS notified areas.

The CAS awareness campaign will last for a period of 30 days. The general directive also provides for filing of a compliance report immediately after the start as well as the end of the campaign.

Trai had issued a regulation on 23 August specifying standards of quality of service to be observed by the MSOs/ Cable Operators in CAS notified areas of Chennai, Mumbai, Delhi and Kolkata. This regulation had stated that multi system operators permitted to provide cable services in CAS notified areas would be required to conduct a public awareness campaign from a date to be specified by Trai.

October 5, 2006
Government allays fears of media industry on Broadcast Bill

NEW DELHI: Fazed by strident criticism of certain provisions in a proposed Broadcast Bill, the government on Monday agreed to take industry’s concerns into consideration while drafting the legislation.
Briefing reporters after a meeting with the industry representatives on the eve of India’s Independence Day, information and broadcasting secretary SK Arora said, “We have agreed to take into account the views of the industry when we draft a final Bill on the subject.”

A Press Trust of India report said Arora also sought to assuage apprehensions of the industry on a provision dubbed “draconian” in certain sections of the media regarding the inspection, search and seizure of equipments.

“These are just apprehensions and the government has no intention to encroach on the independence of the media,” PTI quoted Arora as saying.

According to Arora, “This kind of criminal offences clause will be applicable only for three offences — unlicenced activity; telecasting anti-national content and something that may be sensitive from security perspective; and if certain directions of the Government on security and national integrity are not carried out.”

However, Indiantelevision.com learns that what was billed as a big ticket industry-government interaction did not turn out so as quite a few captains of the industry kept away from the meeting and Delhi, which is reeling under heavy security due to threats of large scale terrorist activity.

Interestingly, the meeting also got broken up into several smaller interactions with the minister and secretary briefing different people in different rooms.

Dasmunsi is also said to have expressed his ignorance on TV channels being directed by his ministry to scroll a public apology for three days for breaching advertising code.

Those who attended Monday’s meeting included Zee group’s Jawahar Goel, Discovery India head Deepak Shourie, India TV CEO Chintamani Rao, NDTV Profit head Vikram Chandra and Business Standard CEO and editor TN Ninan.

Industry bodies representatives included those from Indian Media Group, Indian Broadcasting Foundation, Indian Newspaper Society and several other media companies.

August 16, 2006
ETC Music business head Ashish Chakravorty quits

MUMBAI: ETC Music business head Ashish Chakravorty is leaving the company. He has put in his papers and is presently serving his notice period.

“Chakravorty has decided to leave ETC Music. He is moving out to explore other challenging opportunities. We wish him all the best,” says Essel Group senior VP Ashish Kaul, while confirming the development.

When contacted, Chakravorty refused to reveal any information on his future plans.

Chakravorty has been associated with Zee Group since the last six years. He was heading Zee Records for four years and thereafter moved over to head the Syndication Sales & Film Acquisition division of Zee. Chakravorty moved to ETC Music this February, to head the channel in the capacity of business head.

July 19, 2006
Zee News regains number 2 position

New Delhi – 3rd July’06: Zee News, the leading Hindi news channel regains the number 2 position according to the TAM Data for the week 25th. Zee news has always being doing a lot of innovations to give its viewers the right and accurate picture in the news segment.

According to TAM wk 25 in the channel share Zee news is No.2 (Data enclosed) SEC ABC M 15+;HSM. This is primarily due to the new set, look, presentation and graphics. Also at the 10 PM slot the new program Badi Khabar is delivering and has become an instant choice for the viewers of Zee News.

Commenting on this achievement Shri Laxmi Narain Goel, Director – Zee News Ltd., said, “Zee News, in its endeavor to update its viewers about the current trend of politics, is now presenting this unique show with a big difference called Badi Khabar which tells you about the big news of the day, highlights the Top Story of the day that concerns and affects the man on the street. Badi Khabar was launched along with the new ‘bold’ look of the channel using the latest technology in presenting news. It has been our constant effort to show the viewers of Zee News not just news but something more than that by constantly creating new shows.

About Zee News

Zee News, the news and current affairs channel of the Zee group, has taken giant strides ever since its inception in 1992. Reaching millions of viewers in five continents, the channel revolutionized the way news was brought home to the viewers and absorbed by them.

Zee News is a pioneer not just because it was the first private broadcaster news in South Asia but also because it created history in 1999 when it became the first 24 hours news channel of the country.

Media Contacts:
Chetan Saxena
9811323282

July 3, 2006
Tata Sky targets 1 July for DTH launch

MUMBAI: Rumours of delays may be rife in the market but Tata Sky – the 80:20 joint venture between the Tata Group and Star India – is targeting a 1 July commercial launch of its direct-to-home (DTH) service, informed industry sources aver.

Tata Sky CEO Vikram Kaushik, while speaking to Indiantelevision.com, was however quite categorical that any talk of a date of launch was premature at this stage and therefore purely speculative. Kaushik would only confirm that his company was on target for a mid-year launch for its DTH service.

Tata Sky will begin the “test run” of India’s third DTH service after Zee Group’s DishTV and Prasar Bharati’s DD direct from 15 May, the sources say. It has marked out a 45-day window period till 30 June during which time all technical and channel and programme related issues will have been ironed out.

According to the sources, the preparatory work for the launch has been ratcheted up several gears in the last three weeks after the company collected from the information and broadcasting ministry the final licence clearing the way for the $500-million DTH service to take off.

It was in December last that the telecommunication ministry gave its green signal for the vexed matter of setting up an uplinking base in Delhi by Videsh Sanchar Nigam Ltd, an issue that was under government scanner on technical grounds of land use by VSNL of its Chattarpur facility. The telecom ministry nod was seen as crucial for obtaining the final licence from the I&B ministry.

Tata Sky has three operational centres in the country. Its technical set-up is headquartered in the capital, its complete back-up systems, including call centre operations, is out of Bangalore while its commercial activities are managed from Mumbai.

One big priority of course is getting all popular channels onto its platform, a matter that rival DishTV has still to resolve with the Star network and the Sony-Discovery One Alliance. Here, like in the case of the Subhash Chandra-promoted DTH service, ESPN Star Sports has already worked out a carriage deal with Tata Sky.

Queried about this, Kaushik would only say, “We are in ongoing discussions with all major broadcasters. More than this I cannot comment at this stage.”

Speaking of channels, a key function of all addressable systems is the electronic programme guide (EPG). Tata Sky has exchanged letters with all broadcasters on use of logos and such in regards to how the programming highlights in its EPG will be displayed. The operator has reportedly requested all channels to provide these details ahead of the 15 May week.

Another aspect that Tata Sky has to confront is of how to get around the last mile roadblock. One strategy that it is going with is to introduce pre-paid cards, which Kaushik believes would make subscription payment easier for the consumer. This differs from the DishTV strategy, which offers new customers its services for Rs 3,990 that includes one year’s subscription. After a year, DishTV subscribers pay a monthly subscription fee.

Secondly, Tata Sky plans to take the responsibility of directly installing the hardware in every subscriber’s home and servicing it whenever needed. This again differs from DishTV which has a distribution network of about 5,000 dealers / distributors across the country.

On the hardware side, Tata Sky, like DishTV has done, will be offering its boxes through consumer durable outlets.

As regards subscriber acquisition, Tata Sky is following a two-pronged strategy of targeting individual consumers as well as institutions, for which there is a separate head of institutional sales.

Industrial townships, hospitals, hotels, etc. are where the operator is directly negotiating to set up a central dish antenna through which it can connect individual installations.

Where it has come into direct confrontation with last mile operators has been when it approached housing societies in various cities with the institutional model to offer its services.

In fact, one of the reasons for a majority of cable networks in Kolkata blacking out the Star group of channels has been this issue. The protest against carriage of the Star channels in Kolkata is being led by the Forum of Cable Operators and Cable Operators Sanjukta, two association bodies of the last mile operators in the city. “Star was asking for a hike, which we couldn’t have passed on to the consumers. Besides, Tata Sky, where Star is a partner, is wanting to grab subscribers by offering housing societies free cabling from a single central antenna,” Cable Operators Sanjukta spokesperson Papi Banerjee told Indiantelevision.com recently.

Be that as it may, Tata Sky has set itself some ambitious goals. The major one reportedly being to acquire around one million subscriptions by this year.

Tata Sky CEO Vikram Kaushik, while speaking to Indiantelevision.com, was however quite categorical that any talk of a date of launch was premature at this stage and therefore purely speculative. Kaushik would only confirm that his company was on target for a mid-year launch for its DTH service.

Tata Sky will begin the “test run” of India’s third DTH service after Zee Group’s DishTV and Prasar Bharati’s DD direct from 15 May, the sources say. It has marked out a 45-day window period till 30 June during which time all technical and channel and programme related issues will have been ironed out.

According to the sources, the preparatory work for the launch has been ratcheted up several gears in the last three weeks after the company collected from the information and broadcasting ministry the final licence clearing the way for the $500-million DTH service to take off.

It was in December last that the telecommunication ministry gave its green signal for the vexed matter of setting up an uplinking base in Delhi by Videsh Sanchar Nigam Ltd, an issue that was under government scanner on technical grounds of land use by VSNL of its Chattarpur facility. The telecom ministry nod was seen as crucial for obtaining the final licence from the I&B ministry.

Tata Sky has three operational centres in the country. Its technical set-up is headquartered in the capital, its complete back-up systems, including call centre operations, is out of Bangalore while its commercial activities are managed from Mumbai.

One big priority of course is getting all popular channels onto its platform, a matter that rival DishTV has still to resolve with the Star network and the Sony-Discovery One Alliance. Here, like in the case of the Subhash Chandra-promoted DTH service, ESPN Star Sports has already worked out a carriage deal with Tata Sky.

Queried about this, Kaushik would only say, “We are in ongoing discussions with all major broadcasters. More than this I cannot comment at this stage.”

Speaking of channels, a key function of all addressable systems is the electronic programme guide (EPG). Tata Sky has exchanged letters with all broadcasters on use of logos and such in regards to how the programming highlights in its EPG will be displayed. The operator has reportedly requested all channels to provide these details ahead of the 15 May week.

Another aspect that Tata Sky has to confront is of how to get around the last mile roadblock. One strategy that it is going with is to introduce pre-paid cards, which Kaushik believes would make subscription payment easier for the consumer. This differs from the DishTV strategy, which offers new customers its services for Rs 3,990 that includes one year’s subscription. After a year, DishTV subscribers pay a monthly subscription fee.

Secondly, Tata Sky plans to take the responsibility of directly installing the hardware in every subscriber’s home and servicing it whenever needed. This again differs from DishTV which has a distribution network of about 5,000 dealers / distributors across the country.

On the hardware side, Tata Sky, like DishTV has done, will be offering its boxes through consumer durable outlets.

As regards subscriber acquisition, Tata Sky is following a two-pronged strategy of targeting individual consumers as well as institutions, for which there is a separate head of institutional sales.

Industrial townships, hospitals, hotels, etc. are where the operator is directly negotiating to set up a central dish antenna through which it can connect individual installations.

Where it has come into direct confrontation with last mile operators has been when it approached housing societies in various cities with the institutional model to offer its services.

In fact, one of the reasons for a majority of cable networks in Kolkata blacking out the Star group of channels has been this issue. The protest against carriage of the Star channels in Kolkata is being led by the Forum of Cable Operators and Cable Operators Sanjukta, two association bodies of the last mile operators in the city. “Star was asking for a hike, which we couldn’t have passed on to the consumers. Besides, Tata Sky, where Star is a partner, is wanting to grab subscribers by offering housing societies free cabling from a single central antenna,” Cable Operators Sanjukta spokesperson Papi Banerjee told Indiantelevision.com recently.

Be that as it may, Tata Sky has set itself some ambitious goals. The major one reportedly being to acquire around one million subscriptions by this year.

April 20, 2006