All Entries Tagged With: "STB"
Indian DTH players revise subscription packages upwards
MUMBAI: Bogged down by multiple taxation and regular hikes in taxes like service and entertainment, Indian direct-to-home (DTH) service providers have decided to pass on the burden to their customers. DTH operators like Dish TV, Tata Sky, Airtel digital TV and Videocon d2h are raising base pack prices. In the case of Dish TV and Videocon d2h, the uptick is to the tune of 10 per cent for all their packages. They say an increase is inevitable as they have been absorbing taxes for far too long and the industry viability itself is coming into question because the players have been bleeding. Airtel »»»
No relaxation in sunset date for first phase of digitisation: Govt
NEW DELHI: Information and Broadcasting Secretary Uday Kumar Varma, while reiterating that the sunset dates of the first phase for the metros of 30 June was irrevocable, said today that the regulatory framework including interconnection issues and tariff for cable digitisation would be in place by the end of this month. Varma said that one million digital set top boxes had already been installed while another 2.5 million were readily available and the process of acquiring the remaining seven million required for the first phase had been put in place with directions issued for importing them. Earlier »»»
DTH industry seeks tax sops
NEW DELHI: The direct-to-home (DTH) platforms have made a strong plea for doing away with the entertainment tax levied by the states and the 10.3 per cent service tax levied by the Centre. The DTH Operators Association of India has said that the entertainment tax is unethical as only the broadcasters or those who generate programmes should be taxed. Harit Nagpal, President of the Association, told indiantelevision.com that the entertainment tax varies from state to state and the average percentage was around 10 per cent. Nagpal, who is MD and CEO of Tata Sky, said all the DTH players have to pay »»»
Cable operators chafe at mandatory digitization
INDORE: At a time when cable operators in the state are working hard to woo their subscribers to shell out more under the new tax regime, another issue has started haunting them. A recent amendment to the Section 4A of the Cable Regulation Act, 1995 legalizes an ordinance issued in October this year for implementing mandatory addressable digitization (MAD) throughout the country in phased manner beginning from June 30 this year. Simply put, digitization means they will have to make heavy investment in buying equipment to switch to new technology. By rough estimates, there are nearly 5,000 cable »»»
Govt to file civil appeal against Tdsat order on DTH licence fee
NEW DELHI: The government is in the process of filing a civil appeal against the order of the Telecom Disputes Settlement and Appellate Tribunal (Tdsat) which applied the principle of adjusted gross revenue for determination of annual licence fee by direct-to-home (DTH) operators. “The government is readying to file against the Tdsat order,” Information and Broadcasting Ministry sources told Indiantelevision.com. An appeal is already pending in the Supreme Court against an earlier order in this regard on 26 August 2008. The latest order came on 28 May this year. Incidentally, the DTH »»»
DTH ops want govt to take measures for cheaper STBs
NEW DELHI: Even as most DTH operators differ that a common Open Architecture based set-top box could ensure technical interoperability among different operators, they are unanimous that the government should take steps to reduce the cost of the STBs. Meanwhile, most operators have lauded the government’s efforts towards digitisation and expressed their willingness to support these measures. The comments came in response to a Consultation Paper issued by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India on the possibility of technical interoperability and technical compatibility among different DTH »»»
Interopertability to Set Top Boxes (STB)
New Delhi, Sep 19 (Calcutta Tube) After mobile number portability, the telecom and broadcast regulator’s move to bring interoperability to Set Top Boxes (STB) has evoked a mixed response from the Direct-to-Home (DTH) operators. STB interoperability means the STBs of any DTH platform should be usable on any other DTH platform. It will enable customers to switch from one operator to another on the same set top box by just using a module known as conditional access module (CAM). The customer can simply insert this module into the STB to access another operator without using a separate STB. Interoperability »»»
