June 2008

Monday, June 02, 2008 -- 40,000 employees of Prasar Bharti observe a ‘tool down’ strike in New Delhi.

Identifying Satellites In A Crowded Sky

Crowded satellite sky’s over India is causing unique technical issues whilst aligning dishes for the DTH providers.

With the booming DTH market and the lack of bandwidth it has caused additional problems for the DTH provider apart from the rain fade problems during monsoon period.

-Resurrection of CAS-

Ending all speculation surrounding the roll-out of conditional access system (CAS) in the country, the government on 8-Apr-2008 gave in-principle approval to CAS extension in rest of Delhi, Mumbai and Kolkata, and subsequently in 55 cities in a phased manner as suggested by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai).

The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (I&B) held a meeting between the representative of the cable industry, broadcasters, consumer organizations and several state government officials, and said the roll-out would be done in phases.

Resurrection of CAS

Ending all speculation surrounding the roll-out of conditional access system (CAS) in the country, the government on 8-Apr-2008 gave in-principle approval to CAS extension in rest of Delhi, Mumbai and Kolkata, and subsequently in 55 cities in a phased manner as suggested by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai). .

The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (I&B) held a meeting between the representative of the cable industry, broadcasters, consumer organizations and several state government officials, and said the roll-out would be done in phases.

Passive Optical Networks

Unlocking the Bandwidth Potential of Fiber

The need for telcos to deliver the Triple Play of voice, video and data in order to compete with services offered by cable companies has reignited focus on broadband optical access systems based on Passive Optical Networking (PON). While the economic downturn stalled implementations of new technologies as the communications industry focused on maximizing revenue from existing infrastructure (such as DSL over copper wires), the Triple Play has returned PON to the frontline of emerging technologies. PON components are key to unlocking the bandwidth potential of fiber.

Going Forward with Regulations

TRAI’s enthusiasm in drafting new regulations for the Industry has not yet died down. Last month we saw TRAI declare DTH bouquet/channel prices. Also open house discussions were held on entry of other entities in broadcasting and distribution and revision of Foreign Investments in the industry, Sad that the attendance of stake holders was very low. Final recommendations of TRAI on FDI have also been sent to the Ministry. They have recommended 74% FDI for Cable networking raising it from 49%, which may prove good to attract foreign equity from people who are interested to consolidate the networks using convergence technologies and still maintain the status of the small cable operators intact. Most of the Indian companies, unfortunately, create an impression of a total take over that scares the LCOs to support them whole heartedly. 

May 2008

Thursday, May 01, 2008 -- A new Hindi news channel ‘India News’ has been launched. A part from news the channel has also streamlined few laugh riot programmes for viewers.