NEW SKIRMISHES IN THE SKY DIRECT TO HOME – A TOUGH CLIMB AHEAD

Breakneck technological changes are threatening to make the already small global village into global ‘mohalla’. New discoveries are being made even before yesterday’s ‘latest’ discovery is yet to be implemented. Such is the case with the new-fangled DTH, which could be occluded by reportedly superior Ka-band. 

Meanwhile, the kneejerk reactions that our government is prone to making in face of advancing technology, seem to be replicating over the issue of DTH also and the final could well end up becoming very indirect. 

Direct-To-Home (DTH) is a delivery system whereby digitally impressed channels can be sent through high-powered signals through Ku-band transponders directly to subscriber’s homes. The subscriber is in a position to access the channels if he is equipped with a small but powerful dish antenna and a decoder, which can unscramble the signals. DTH enables viewers to receive super quality picture and sound. 

Direct-To-Home service which has till now been very popular in the West is trying to find a place iii India’s turbulent and some what uncharted broadcast scene. 

Aimed at reducing the television channel’s dependence on cable operators, because with DTH services one small dish or parabolic antenna fixed on your window sill, will enable you to access upto 60 channels, DTH will naturally have a far greater reach since its penetration levels will not be restricted to only urban or uncabled areas. The Ku-band DTH network will boost the earnings of the broadcasters. 

The Direct-To-Home imbroglio which seems to have been created to keep a check on the chaos rampant in the free-to-air satellite broadcasting and cable distribution, appears to be heading towards some kind of solution at times and becoming even more chaotic at others. The Prasar Bharti Bill has undergone many drafts and changes and is yet to be given a final shape. It has now been realised that DTH is an issue that will have to be dealt with seriously and should form a part of the broadcast bill. The government is taking its own sweet time to formalise laws that will govern and control the use of this technology in India. Until then this technology cannot be brought into the country in a legitimate manner. 

Some of the regulatory issues in the proposed broadcast bill are as follows: 

a) An authority to prescribe programme and advertising codes, standards and certain obligations.

b) Licence - a precondition, 10 years; not transferable.

c) Minimum two players-a cap possible per region per service.

d) DTH operations at national/ regional levels.

e) Two cable operators per circle.... Area same as telecom circle.....

f) Foreign satellite TV services should apply for beaming on India (ISRO).

g) Value added services require a separate licence.

h) Restraining advertising on DTH channels b)’ Indian advertisers.

i) Restrictions on foreign exchange from the country - revenue generated from out of Pay Television, advertising, etc. 

The government issued a notification in December ’96 making a stipulation that a licence from the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) was compulsory in order to possess Ku-band dishes and decoders which are required to receive and unscramble digitally compressed signals on direct-to-home. According to the I & B ministry the reason for the notification was to make sure that DTH services did not begin in an unsystematic manner in India and till a proper broadcast bill and subsequently law was passed.

When Star TV put in advertisements in the national dailies on 27th December ’96 (barely 10 days after the government notification) for space of set up franchisee showrooms, where equipment for DTH services like dishes and decoders could be exhibited for sale, the government responded by issuing a public notice. 

Alert readers would remember several advertisements issued by Star TV regarding its DTH plans. But the moment the government notification came out, Star TV immediately announced that it has no intention of flouting any service rules and regulations laid down by the government. According to the broadcast company the notification was for dealers and distributors of Ku-band hardware and also subscribers who possess decoders and dishes. 

The notification reads

“It has come to the notice of the government that some IV companies have issued advertisements in national dailies, inviting applications to market new television reception equipments and services in national dailies, inviting applications to market new television reception equipments and services for individual consumers. It is hereby brought to the notice of all concerned that possession, establishment, maintenance and working of and dealing in telegraphy equipments which include television reception equipments capable of receiving signals in the frequency bands above 4800 MHz in any part of India without a Licence is an offence under the Indian Telegraph Act, 1885 and the Indian Wireless Telegraphy Act, 1993, vide Ministry of Communication’s notification.”

The notice further warns that: “if anybody is found to possess, market, distribute, establish or maintain such equipments without obtaining an appropriate licence from the competent authority, he would be liable for prosecution and may be punished with imprisonment upto 3 years apart from fines.”

Working towards a partnership on the DTH project, both Star TV and Zee Telefilms have agreed on a revenue-sharing basis, the finer details of which are yet to be worked out. The DTH network that these two companies had proposed was scheduled to become operational on 2nd April ’97, with 40 channels being beamed against a subscription fee of Rs. 499/- per moth per household and will be beamed via Pan Am Sat-4 satellite. Matters have come to a standstill after the December ’96 notification. 

One fears that if the broadcast bill is not passed soon, technological advances may march ahead and pose new questions before the government. The delay is not easy to understand as the estimated revenue loss, which would have accrued to the government from the operators and broadcasters from this rich industry is huge. When the bill is finally cleared, it will be some time before a DTH network is set up and becomes fully operational. 

Government plans are not clear. It appears to be in a mind to auction off regions to the highest bidder for operating DTH Television networks after which the concerned players must obtain the proposed independent regulatory authority’s approval on the channels to be aired on the platform. 

Some other conditions and stipulations are that there will be auctions and bids. There will also not be any advertising on DTH. A 25 per cent stake is to be the upper limit for foreign players interested in the Indian skies. Uplinking from India will be made compulsory. Certain channels will have to be included while others will have to be excluded on government appointed grounds. 

The I&B ministry may also permit Indian companies to use uplinking facilities, even to foreign satellites, provided the Department of Space has a bilateral relation with the foreign counterpart that manufactures and owns the satellite. The ministry will recommend to the independent regulatory body, channels-both foreign and Indian found violating the broadcasting codes of India, and they will be prescribed and their telecast banned. 

Doordarshan is looking towards .in extension of its Memorandum Of Understanding with Malaysian broadcasting company MEASAT for a DTH venture. The previous agreement, which had expired on 3rd August ’96, will in all likelihood be renewed. For DD to be on /he DTH bandwagon would help it to further its reach to uncabled areas. DD should not think in terms of investing in hardware and should shop for a partner who is ready to make investments in terms of satellites and transponders. 

In the race to be the first to bring DTH services to India are naturally all the major key players. Pitched against each other in this broadcast and satellite battle are Rupert Murdoch’s Star TV and Zee TV’s Subash Chandra Goel. Loral, a US based defence and communication giant and the Thailand based Shinawatra group are also players who have their technologically sharp eyes focused on India. 

In the meantime Modi Enterprises is also in the process of finalising negotiations to launch a DTH service in India. Initially the Modis may hire transponders till such time as they are able to launch their own satellite, which is planned in collaboration with DirecTV, a group company of US based Hughes Electronics, a satellite manufacturing company. The company plans to offer all the channels currently available to the DTH subscribers and targets rural areas where the satellite reach is still very limited. 

Contrary to previous plans the government may not tie up with any DTH player, but will in all probability make it compulsory for all DTH operators to carry the DD channels. In 1994 the government had introduced the Cable TV Act, which made it mandatory for all cable operators to beam at least 2 Doordarshan channels. 

Being the first on the DTH platform in India will garner great profits for the pioneer company since there’s room for only 2 DTH players in India. The first to arrive on the scene will be able to corner an estimated 70 per cent of the subscriber share while subsequent players will have a long wait ahead of them, till such time as the market blooms. In all this the government stands to gain by way of subscription fees that it will levy on all DTH broadcasters/operators. DoT is planning to fix a license fee of Rs. 1000/- for DTH frequencies per subscriber per year and its estimated collection would be in the region of Rs. 100 crore per year. The potential of huge profits should have attracted the government and quick action generated, if the official machinery was not so worried about the imagined negative effects of private channels on the psyche of the common man. 

Conservative guesses put a figure of 100,000 DTH subscribers in the beginning while market watchers estimate that the figure will reach one million in the next 5-10 years. Some even expect DTH subscribers to cross the 5 million mark by the turn of the century. With the exception of Star Movies, Zee Cinema and ESPN, all satellite channels are free-to-air channels. These channels are beamed via C-band transponders whose signals are received by huge dishes mounted on cable operator’s roofs. 

Targeted at a niche market segment some skeptics question the wisdom of introducing DTH in India. Presently a subscriber pays between Rs. ISO/- and Rs. 175/- per month for an average of 20-25 free-to-air channels beamed from the cable operators dish. On the other hand an average DTH subscriber will have to invest at least Rs. 18,000/- by way of equipment in order to receive and unscramble the digitally compressed signals. This will be accompanied by a monthly bill of about Rs. 500/- payable to the operator. Costs do not end here. Most television sets presently in use in India can only receive a specific number of channels. To upgrade these television sets with set top converters will again cost about Rs. 3,500/- at a minimum. This seems a little steep considering that the average Indian is not so conscious of picture quality. 

The proponents of uplinking feel that the government is sitting on a vast reservoir of foreign exchange which is fast finding its way into Hong Kong and Singapore, while the more conservative feel that the government should think well before allowing the entry of more foreign channels into India and should have some kind of regulatory hold on them. Clearly, a good number of dollars ride on the denouement.

Source: http://cablequest.org/articles/dth/item/1423-new-skirmishes-in-the-sky-direct-to-home-%E2%80%93-a-tough-climb-ahead.htmlSource: http://cablequest.org/articles/dth/item/1423-new-skirmishes-in-the-sky-direct-to-home-%E2%80%93-a-tough-climb-ahead.html