NEW DELHI: The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) is reviewing the tariff for cable TV service in Cas (conditional access system) notified areas.

The areas under review are: tariff for basic service tier, retail price for a pay channel, tariff options for supply of set-top boxes (STBs) and revenue share arrangement between service providers.

Trai had earlier fixed the current cap on maximum retail price of pay channels at Rs 5.35 (excluding taxes). Two rental schemes on STBs were also mandated by the sector regulator for cable TV operators to offer to their subscribers – Rs 34 a month (on a security deposit of Rs 200) and Rs 22 (on a deposit of Rs 750).

The review is significant as broadcasters have complained that the price freeze on their pay channels is too low for them to recover their high-cost programming investments due to stiff competition in the sector.

The freeing of prices will also help the multi-system operators to up their revenues, industry observers said.

Trai has asked comments from the stakeholders on whether the use of STBs should be mandated on Cas notified areas for viewing both free-to-air (FTA) and pay channels.

Currently, cable TV subscribers do not have to use a STB if they only want the FTA channels.

Trai has also sought the views of stakeholders on whether there should be only two broad tariff regulatory frameworks, one for analogue non-addressable (non-Cas) and another for digital addressable systems, and whether such a framework should be the same for wholesale and retail.

In a consultation paper released today on ‘Tariff for Cable TV services in Cas notified Areas’, Trai has also asked what method should be used to regulate the tariff ceilings for basic service tier in Cas notified areas.

Trai has asked the stakeholders to submit their views by 5 May. Counter comments, if any, to the comments received may be sent to Trai by 12 May.

Trai also wants to know which method should be used to regulate the retail tariff for pay channels in Cas notified areas: providing periodic inflation linked adjustment in the present ceiling of Rs 5.35 (excluding taxes) per pay channel per subscriber per month, single or different ceilings across all genres, or forbearance.

Should a relation between a-la-carte and bouquet price be prescribed to prevent perverse pricing, Trai asks, wanting to know whether it should be different for broadcaster and MSO.

It has also sought views on how the retail tariff for advertisement free channels should be regulated in Cas notified areas and whether it should be different from other pay channels.

Trai asks how the retail tariff should be regulated in Cas notified areas for niche channels which require specialised STBs.

Should the tariff for supply of STB be regulated, left to market forces, or should the present system continue, asks Trai.

Source: Indiantelevision.com

National broadcaster Doordarshan is seeking to strengthen its direct-to-home (DTH) platform – DD Direct Plus – and expects to have some 200 channels on its platform by end of the Eleventh Five-Year Plan or 2012.

At present, DD Direct Plus has a bouquet of 57 Free-to-Air (FTA) channels.

In the first phase by the end of 2010, DD Direct Plus aims to have about 100 FTA channels. In second phase, it is targeting 200 channels of which many will be FTA channels.

Currently, 31 of the 57 channels are from the DD stable.

Strong response

“We have an overwhelming response from private channels to get on to the DD Direct Plus platform. Even some of the pay channels are willing to go free,” said Ms Aruna Sharma, Director-General, Doordarshan.

“There’s a waitlist of 74 private channels seeking an entry to the DD Direct platform,” Ms Sharma said without disclosing their names. Some of the private channels such as Zee Smile, B4U Music and 9X are already on the DD Direct platform.

Subscription charge

Hinting at the possibility of DD Direct Plus starting to charge subscribers once it has over 100 channels, Ms Sharma said “pricing will depend on the policy at that point of time.” In the Fifth Plan, DD is investing about Rs 85 crore in strengthening the DD Direct platform.

The reach

Currently, DD Direct Plus reaches over six million homes, while the total subscriber base of private-sector players is expected to be around 18 million. An estimated two million DTH households were added in the October-December quarter.

DTH subscribers constitute a small portion of the overall television viewers in the country at present.

Analysts expect the DTH industry to grow at a compounded annual rate of 30 per cent by 2012. The overall television viewership in India is expected to grow to 132 million by 2012, up form 115 million.

Source: The Hindu Business Line

If you’re happy watching just the free to air (FTA) channels, you can indeed get them entirely free of cost by the end of the year. All you need do is install a set top box.

Currently, the various direct to home (DTH) service providers — Tata Sky, Dish TV, Reliance Big TV among others — offer various ‘bouquets’ of free and paid channels, which cost between Rs 80 to Rs 1,200 per month. With the new option Doordarshan is planning, you won’t have to pay anything at all.

Doordarshan has its own DTH service already, called DD Direct, and it is free, but it provides only 59 FTA channels, most of which are Doordarshan’s own. Now the government has told Prasar Bharati to prepare a proposal by which the number of FTA channels DD Direct provides increases to 200.

Doordarshan officials believe the move will be a game changer. “It will bring about the kind of change that occurred when the government decided incoming mobile phone calls should be free,” said a senior official.

At present DD Direct reaches 6 million homes, while private DTH operators cater to 14-16 million homes. Officials expect its reach to expand to 30 million homes within months of launching the new product.

The moot question is whether some pay channels will be willing to turn free to take advantage of the huge viewership DD Direct expects to offer, making up in advertising rates what they lose from subscriptions. Officials said they offered another incentive: the carriage fee — annual price of beaming a channel — Doordarshan charges is lower than private operators.

“If DD Direct can put together a good combination, it will have a good market,” said Uday Shankar, CEO Star India. “But I doubt pay channels will shift.”

Source: Hindustan Times