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Govt’s technical teams to ensure only digital signals go to LCOs

Published

13 years ago

October 30, 2012

NEW DELHI/MUMBAI: The government has fanned out technical teams in the four metros to ensure its 1 November deadline for shifting to digital delivery of cable television is complied with fully.

The Information & Broadcasting (I&B) Ministry has deployed teams comprising technical experts in Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai and Kolkata to make sure multi-system operators (MSOs) deliver only digital signals from their head-ends.

The coordination committee of Indian Broadcasting Foundation (IBF) and MSO Alliance has on its part set up a task force to keep a check on piracy for continued provision of analogue cable TV services to consumers who have not yet installed set-top boxes (STBs).

The broadcasters and MSOs had a meeting with Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) chairman Rahul Khullar and I&B secretary Uday Kumar Verma on Monday, where they were given a clear message that the 31 October sunset deadline for analogue cable in the four metros is absolutely sacrosanct.

Even as it decided to ignore calls from political parties to postpone digitisation, the government claimed 93 per cent of the television homes have already shifted to digital reception of television channels, including those who have subscribed to direct-to-home (DTH) services.

The I&B Ministry said it has sent teams consisting of technical experts to visit various head-ends of national MSOs as well as independent MSOs in the four metro cities. The technical teams will collect on-site data regarding preparedness of MSOs for switchover to digital addressable system from analogue system.

The teams would also look at details of subscriber management systems and call centre facilities set up by the MSOs.

More importantly, the technical teams would also look at the systems available with the MSOs to ensure only digital signals go out to local cable networks from 1 November.

IBF president and MSM CEO Man Jit Singh said, ” IBF is taking an aggressive stance against signal piracy. We have set up groups comprising members in all the four cities who will conduct raids with the help of police and have the (defaulting) head-ends seized. As per the law, it‘s illegal to provide analogue signals after the deadline.”

The broadcasters and the MSOs have now joined in the government’s efforts to carry out switchover to digital delivery of television channels, though many of them privately have disputed the government’s figures on homes that have converted to digital. The government’s claim on digital television penetration are taking into consideration census figures on cable TV homes.

According to the 2011 census, the four metro cities have a total of 8.3 million of TV homes. The I&B Ministry has arrived at its estimates of digital TV penetration after extrapolating data received from MSOs on a daily basis on STB deployment.

According to industry officials, the actual number of cable TV homes is higher than what the 2011 census has stated. None of the players have the exact estimates on cable TV homes as local cable operators under-declare their total number of subscribers to avoid paying to the MSOs.

There will be a large number of homes which would find their television sets going blank from 1 November if MSOs follow the government diktat in letter and spirit and stop analogue systems completely.

MSO Alliance secretary and CEO of Den Networks SN Sharma said, “The co-ordination committee set up by IBF and MSOs have formed a task force to attend to complaints of piracy. The broadcasters under IBF have the authority to conduct raids through police in case there is piracy of signal.”

The I&B Ministry on Tuesday claimed 100 per cent digitisation in Mumbai, 95 per cent in Delhi, 85 per cent in Kolkata and 86 per cent in Chennai. These figures include homes with DTH connections.

The ministry said the rate of installation of STBs has touched an all time high. On 29 October, it said, about 88,000 set top boxes were installed out of which more than 61000 boxes were installed in Delhi alone.

It said the control room set up by the ministry has been receiving an average of 400 calls per day since 15 October 2012. MSO representatives also sit in the control room to reply to queries from 8.00 am to 10.00 pm every day. This has provided a platform for common people to have their concerns/queries on the digitization process resolved.

Mamata Banerjee opposes digitisation

West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee has, however, threatened to launch an agitation if analogue TV transmission is going to be blocked after the 31 October and accused the centre of trying to adopt a path of “confrontation” with the states on the issue.

“When set top boxes are not in hand, analogue system should be allowed to continue and the centre has no right to blackout TV. We cannot simply accept this stand of the centre,” Banerjee told a press conference in Kolkata.

She said “If necessary, we will launch a state-wide movement and later spread it to the whole of India.”

BJP wants two-month extension

In Delhi, former union minister and BJP general secretary Vijay Goel demanded that the last date for installation of STBs should be pushed to at least 31 December.

He said Delhi has more than 4.5 million cable TV customers but more than half of those still have to get STBs installed. Causing TV sets to go blank with Diwali around the corner is ‘uncalled for’, he told reporters. The majority of those who had not installed STBs cannot afford them in ‘times of such sky-high inflation’, Goel said.

Goel said that he would be writing to the new I&B Minister Manish Tewari and urge him to postpone the deadline until year-end.

LCOs say ground work not prepared

A delegation from the Cable Operators Federation of India (COFI) headed by its president Roop Sharma called on Goel and apprised him of their grievances. The delegation said they are not opposed to digitisation but enough time should be given to consumers for a smooth transition.

Goel said that currently there are five major MSOs who are forcing their terms on the people and even the cable operators are not kept in the loop by them. He said the choice should be with the consumers as to whether they want to watch digital or analogue transmission in keeping with their paying capacities. He said 70 to 80 free to air channels should be provided free of cost to consumers. Such a proposal was initiated in 2003 under the Conditional Access System.

The STBs are priced between Rs 800 to 2000 each and there will be monthly rentals, entertainment taxes, service charges and a minimum of Rs 100 rupee additional electricity bill per month for each of these boxes. He said the worst part was that old TV sets which do not have the AV connectors cannot support these new boxes, thus defeating the very purpose of digitisation.

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Moltbook, the AI-only social network, sparks hype, doubt and fear

Published

1 month ago

February 3, 2026

indiantelevision.com Team

CALIFORNIA: Moltbook, a Reddit-style social platform built exclusively for artificial intelligence agents, has emerged as the latest obsession in Silicon Valley, drawing intense attention for its explosive growth and surreal bot-driven interactions.

The platform hosts more than 100 communities where AI agents post, argue and joke about topics ranging from governance theory to esoteric “crayfish debugging” concepts. Within days of launch, Moltbook recorded tens of thousands of posts, nearly 200,000 comments and more than 1 million human visitors observing the activity.

Yet the numbers and the autonomy are under scrutiny, as per media reports. A security researcher has suggested as many as 500,000 accounts may trace back to a single address, raising doubts about Moltbook’s membership claims. Many posts could also be the result of humans instructing their AI tools to publish content, rather than bots acting independently.

The platform runs on agentic AI, powered by an open-source tool called OpenClaw, formerly known as Moltbot. Unlike chatbots such as ChatGPT or Gemini, these agents are designed to perform tasks on users’ devices, from sending messages to managing calendars, with minimal human input. Once authorised, they can interact freely on Moltbook.

Some tech figures have hailed the platform as a glimpse of a post-human internet. Head of crypto custody firm BitGo Bill Lees, called it evidence that “we’re in the singularity”.

Academics are less convinced. Petar Radanliev, an AI and cybersecurity expert at the University of Oxford, said the idea of agents acting independently was “misleading”, describing Moltbook instead as automated coordination within human-set constraints. Columbia Business School assistant professor David Holtz, dismissed the spectacle as “thousands of bots yelling into the void and repeating themselves”.

Beyond hype, security worries loom large. ESET global cybersecurity advisor Jake Moore, warned that granting AI agents access to emails, private messages and files risks prioritising efficiency over privacy. Andrew Rogoyski of the University of Surrey said high-level system access could lead to serious damage, from erased data to compromised company accounts.

Even OpenClaw’s founder Peter Steinberger, has felt the darker side of attention, with scammers hijacking his old social media handles after the platform’s rebrand.

For now, Moltbook remains a strange digital zoo: part experiment, part spectacle, where AI agents banter about philosophy, productivity and, occasionally, their fondness for their human operators.

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Apple appoints Avtar Ram Singh as head of international marketing

Published

1 month ago

February 2, 2026

indiantelevision.com Team

CALIFORNIA: Apple has handed a bigger global brief to a long-time insider. Avtar Ram Singh has taken over as head of international marketing for the App Store, Apple Arcade and the Apple Games app, deepening his remit across one of the company’s fastest-growing businesses.

“I’m happy to share that I’m starting a new position as head of international marketing, App Store, Apple Arcade and Games App at Apple,” Singh said while announcing the move.

The promotion crowns nearly seven years at Apple, where Singh has led services marketing across Southeast Asia and India and previously served as head of marketing for Southeast Asia content and services, business lead for Apple Podcasts in the region and interim marketing lead for the App Store internationally.

His new portfolio spans three pillars of Apple’s services push. The App Store, which Apple positions as a safe and trusted discovery platform, now attracts more than 850 million average weekly users globally. Since 2008, developers have earned over $550 billion on the platform.

Apple Arcade, the company’s gaming subscription service, offers unlimited access to a catalogue ranging from brain teasers to big-name franchises. The recent addition of Sid Meier’s Civilization VII Arcade Edition brings a AAA PC title to iPhone, iPad and Mac from 5 February.

Then there is the Apple Games app, unveiled at WWDC as a unified destination for games from the App Store and Arcade. It aggregates titles in one place, surfaces personalised recommendations, tracks events and achievements, and lets users compete with friends or connect controllers for a console-like experience.

Singh arrives with a hybrid background in strategy, data and creativity. His career spans digital and social media marketing, business intelligence, content, editorial and analytics across culturally diverse markets. He has worked on brands including P&G, Accor, Audi, UBS, Nikon, Samsung, Sony, Pizza Hut, HBO and Singapore Airlines-linked businesses such as Scoot.

Before Apple, Singh led strategy at Falcon Agency, focusing on performance marketing and ROI-driven digital frameworks. He earlier ran the social practice at Publicis Singapore, where he oversaw operations, business development and regional social strategy for multinational clients. His career also includes roles at Ogilvy-linked Circus Social, Rocket Internet ventures Lazada and Zalora, and research firm IDC in Bangkok, where he analysed technology markets and won early awards for collaboration and client retention.

At Apple, he has been close to several service launches and expansions, including Apple Fitness+ in Singapore, Apple Creator Studio, global podcast subscriptions and new App Store marketing tools.

The timing is notable. Apple’s services business has posted record years, and gaming is becoming a sharper battleground as platforms chase engagement and recurring revenue. Singh’s brief sits at the intersection of content, community and commerce.

In a market where attention is scarce and loyalty scarcer, Apple is betting that sharper storytelling and smarter marketing can keep users inside its ecosystem. Singh now holds the megaphone. The real test will be how loudly the world listens.

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Cloud nine in the capital Bharathcloud plugs Delhi into its AI plans

Published

1 month ago

January 30, 2026

indiantelevision.com Team

MUMBAI: Bharathcloud is bringing its cloud closer to power. The Hyderabad-based sovereign AI cloud services provider has opened its Delhi office, marking its formal entry into North India and setting the stage for its next phase of growth.

The expansion comes as India’s digital transformation fuels rising demand for AI-ready cloud infrastructure, driven by wider adoption of artificial intelligence, machine learning, the Internet of Things and data-heavy applications. With the new office, Bharathcloud plans to onboard more than 100 employees in 2026, strengthening its workforce to support customers across government, enterprises, MSMEs and social sectors.

The Delhi presence is expected to sharpen the company’s engagement with organisations seeking secure, scalable and cost-efficient cloud platforms that comply with India’s data sovereignty requirements. It also positions Bharathcloud closer to policy, public sector and enterprise decision-makers in the region.

Founded in Hyderabad, Bharathcloud offers AI-ready cloud infrastructure including Kubernetes-as-a-Service, zero-trust security architecture and multi-level data protection frameworks. Its platform supports AI and ML workloads, blockchain application migration from hyperscalers and distributed data management, with an emphasis on reliability, low latency and operational continuity.

“With the Delhi expansion, we are positioning Bharathcloud to engage more closely with AI-driven enterprises and technology hubs in North India,” said Bharathcloud co-founder Rahul Takallapally. He added that the move would help nurture local cloud and AI talent while accelerating the adoption of secure and resilient AI infrastructure across sectors.

The company currently operates in Hyderabad, Bengaluru, Mumbai, Kolkata, Lucknow and Chennai, employing over 200 people and serving more than 1,500 clients across manufacturing, healthcare, financial services, IT and media. Aligned with national initiatives such as Digital India and Make in India, Bharathcloud continues to focus on building indigenous AI-cloud infrastructure to support data localisation and the country’s growing appetite for next-generation digital solutions.

With its Delhi office now live, the company is signalling a clear intent: to make sovereign, AI-ready cloud infrastructure not just an alternative, but a mainstream choice for India’s north as well as its tech capitals.