Thakur
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The case filed by multi-system operator (MSO) Shimla Satellite in Shimla High Court seeking to share infrastructure with its JV partner MSO Fastway Transmission set the stage for the consultation process on infrastructure sharing.
The case dates back to January when Shimla Satellite had sought the Ministry of Information & Broadcasting’s (MIB) permission to share infrastructure with Fastway.
The MSO wanted to share with Fastway headend including subscriber management system (SMS) and conditional access system (CAS).
However, the ministry rejected the MSO’s demand on the ground that the MSO registration norms require every MSO to set up an independent digital headend of their own and provide digital services through this headend.
This prompted the MSO to move Shimla High Court, which directed the ministry to consider the MSO’s petition, thus setting in motion the process to put the issue for consultation before the industry stakeholders.
The then MIB secretary Sunil Arora wrote to the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) chairman RS Sharma to provide recommendations on the matter and suggest amendments that are required to the existing laws. In the letter, Arora stated that the Cable TV Networks Regulation Act 1995 is silent on infrastructure sharing.
He also stated that the ministry fully supported the idea of infrastructure sharing and making necessary amendments, provided the following requirements were fulfilled:
(i) These are acceptable to all stakeholders.
(ii) No HITS operator/MSO/local cable operator (LCO) is able to transmit any channel of any broadcasters without an appropriate interconnection agreement with the broadcaster/MSO/HITS operator as the case may be.
(iii) No MSO/LCO is able to transmit or re-transmit any channel, including local and own channels, without encryption.
(iv) State government officers and their representatives are also able to access the system of MSOs/LCOs to ensure that there are no violations of the provisions of the Cable Act/Rules and TRAI regulations and also to cross-check the reported number of subscribers/total collection from subscribers for the purposes of entertainment tax, etc.
Read more at: http://www.televisionpost.com/cable/fastways-shimla-jv-triggered-trais-cp-on-infrastructure-sharing/ | TelevisionPost.com
The case dates back to January when Shimla Satellite had sought the Ministry of Information & Broadcasting’s (MIB) permission to share infrastructure with Fastway.
The MSO wanted to share with Fastway headend including subscriber management system (SMS) and conditional access system (CAS).
However, the ministry rejected the MSO’s demand on the ground that the MSO registration norms require every MSO to set up an independent digital headend of their own and provide digital services through this headend.
This prompted the MSO to move Shimla High Court, which directed the ministry to consider the MSO’s petition, thus setting in motion the process to put the issue for consultation before the industry stakeholders.
The then MIB secretary Sunil Arora wrote to the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) chairman RS Sharma to provide recommendations on the matter and suggest amendments that are required to the existing laws. In the letter, Arora stated that the Cable TV Networks Regulation Act 1995 is silent on infrastructure sharing.
He also stated that the ministry fully supported the idea of infrastructure sharing and making necessary amendments, provided the following requirements were fulfilled:
(i) These are acceptable to all stakeholders.
(ii) No HITS operator/MSO/local cable operator (LCO) is able to transmit any channel of any broadcasters without an appropriate interconnection agreement with the broadcaster/MSO/HITS operator as the case may be.
(iii) No MSO/LCO is able to transmit or re-transmit any channel, including local and own channels, without encryption.
(iv) State government officers and their representatives are also able to access the system of MSOs/LCOs to ensure that there are no violations of the provisions of the Cable Act/Rules and TRAI regulations and also to cross-check the reported number of subscribers/total collection from subscribers for the purposes of entertainment tax, etc.
Read more at: http://www.televisionpost.com/cable/fastways-shimla-jv-triggered-trais-cp-on-infrastructure-sharing/ | TelevisionPost.com
