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Responding to the recent TRAI consultations on issue related to issue of DTH licences, most of the DTH players want Set-top box (STB) interoperability to be kept out of the new licence guidelines.
However, Dish TV and Cable Operators Federation of India have suggested a common inface for technical interoperability like it prevails in other developed markets.
Tata Sky, Videocon d2h, Reliance Digital TV and Airtel Digital TV have pointed out that technical interoperability is not only difficult to achieve since different DTH operators have deployed different technologies but it is also commercially unviable.
Technical interoperability is difficult since some platforms operate on MPEG-2 DVB-S technology while most others have chosen MPEG-4 DVB-S2-8PSK.
The DTH operators also argue that they will keep adopting the technologies themselves by virtue of their business model and there is no need for TRAI to make Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) specified technology mandatory in licensing conditions.
In its supplementary consultation paper, the authority had recommended that the government should ensure that the BIS specifications are based on open architecture and should incorporate the latest technological developments with respect to the technical interoperability of DTH STBs, taking into account its practicability as well as the international experience. The BIS specifications must clearly specify the contours of interoperability between the STBs based on different technological standards.
TRAI had also stated that the licence conditions should be amended to mandate compliance to the latest BIS specifications for the STBs to be offered to all the new subscribers. For compliance, the operators must be given a suitable period of say six months from the date of notification of such specifications.
While stating that it is supportive of technical interoperability, Dish TV suggested that interoperability should be based on a Common Interface (CI) to be mandatory provided on STBs and a conditional access module (CAM) card be made available to all those desiring the facility. Similar suggestion has been made by cable operators Federation of India supporting technical interoperability.
The CI interface, it said, is a global standard for worldwide use of STBs and CAMs. CI is a technology which allows separation of conditional access functionality from a digital TV receiver- decoder (Host) into a removable conditional access module (CAM).
Tata Sky submitted that TRAI must follow a technology neutral policy as recommended by it in its recommendations on “Policy Issues relating to Uplinking/Downlinking of Television channels in India”.
The authority must allow DTH operators to adopt the most flexible DTH technology, Tata Sky said.
Videocon d2h posited that interoperability of DTH STBs should be omitted as the very purpose for which the requirement of technical compatibility was originally included in the DTH licence has been satisfied with commercial interoperability.
Besides, the DTH service providers offer an option to their subscribers for obtaining the DTH hardware on sale and also on hire purchase or rent basis as per their schemes.
Bharati Airtel-owned DTH brand Airtel Digital TV believes that interoperability should be left to the selling model of an STB, wherein a consumer has a choice to purchase a technically interoperable/neutral STB by paying the full cost as opposed to rental or other purchase method available in the market.
It submitted that technical interoperability should not be mandated in the new DTH licence conditions and efforts should be made to bring all operators to the highest standard to make STBs interoperable in future.
Reliance Digital TV submitted that the issue of technical interoperability should be brought into perspective beyond just as a means of providing the customer an exit option from the incumbent service provider, to adding an otherwise muted open market of retail STBs and broader adoption of technological innovation in the country.
The operator said that it is not in the business of supplying STBs. “Today, we are forced to supply the STB, which is only via-media terminal to deliver our products, i.e. pay-TV content and VAS. We would desist ourselves from supplying STB for basic pay-TV services if there were sufficiently capable, secured and open standardised terminals in the market,” it said.
As per the company, the aim of technical interoperability should be to promote more open STBs in the retail market so that customers have a wider choice and continue to get support beyond the warranty period.
Reliance Digital TV believes that it is not possible to field upgrade or construct any box to support all the features in a single box without compromising the security needed to fulfill obligation to the content owner.
Additionally, it suggested that the product manufacturers ‘may’ be allowed to carry a logo for interoperability at different levels including CAS interoperability, network interoperability etc.
“Government should arrange/appoint interoperability testing labs, similar to Cablelabs (USA) or Digital TV lab (Europe), for conformance tests, against reference CAMs. Manufacturers could label their products with the compliance test certificates along with any additional capabilities. This will promote open market product as an industry, where consumers have choice during purchase,” Reliance Digital TV said.
Source: Mixed response on interoperability by stakeholders
However, Dish TV and Cable Operators Federation of India have suggested a common inface for technical interoperability like it prevails in other developed markets.
Tata Sky, Videocon d2h, Reliance Digital TV and Airtel Digital TV have pointed out that technical interoperability is not only difficult to achieve since different DTH operators have deployed different technologies but it is also commercially unviable.
Technical interoperability is difficult since some platforms operate on MPEG-2 DVB-S technology while most others have chosen MPEG-4 DVB-S2-8PSK.
The DTH operators also argue that they will keep adopting the technologies themselves by virtue of their business model and there is no need for TRAI to make Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) specified technology mandatory in licensing conditions.
In its supplementary consultation paper, the authority had recommended that the government should ensure that the BIS specifications are based on open architecture and should incorporate the latest technological developments with respect to the technical interoperability of DTH STBs, taking into account its practicability as well as the international experience. The BIS specifications must clearly specify the contours of interoperability between the STBs based on different technological standards.
TRAI had also stated that the licence conditions should be amended to mandate compliance to the latest BIS specifications for the STBs to be offered to all the new subscribers. For compliance, the operators must be given a suitable period of say six months from the date of notification of such specifications.
While stating that it is supportive of technical interoperability, Dish TV suggested that interoperability should be based on a Common Interface (CI) to be mandatory provided on STBs and a conditional access module (CAM) card be made available to all those desiring the facility. Similar suggestion has been made by cable operators Federation of India supporting technical interoperability.
The CI interface, it said, is a global standard for worldwide use of STBs and CAMs. CI is a technology which allows separation of conditional access functionality from a digital TV receiver- decoder (Host) into a removable conditional access module (CAM).
Tata Sky submitted that TRAI must follow a technology neutral policy as recommended by it in its recommendations on “Policy Issues relating to Uplinking/Downlinking of Television channels in India”.
The authority must allow DTH operators to adopt the most flexible DTH technology, Tata Sky said.
Videocon d2h posited that interoperability of DTH STBs should be omitted as the very purpose for which the requirement of technical compatibility was originally included in the DTH licence has been satisfied with commercial interoperability.
Besides, the DTH service providers offer an option to their subscribers for obtaining the DTH hardware on sale and also on hire purchase or rent basis as per their schemes.
Bharati Airtel-owned DTH brand Airtel Digital TV believes that interoperability should be left to the selling model of an STB, wherein a consumer has a choice to purchase a technically interoperable/neutral STB by paying the full cost as opposed to rental or other purchase method available in the market.
It submitted that technical interoperability should not be mandated in the new DTH licence conditions and efforts should be made to bring all operators to the highest standard to make STBs interoperable in future.
Reliance Digital TV submitted that the issue of technical interoperability should be brought into perspective beyond just as a means of providing the customer an exit option from the incumbent service provider, to adding an otherwise muted open market of retail STBs and broader adoption of technological innovation in the country.
The operator said that it is not in the business of supplying STBs. “Today, we are forced to supply the STB, which is only via-media terminal to deliver our products, i.e. pay-TV content and VAS. We would desist ourselves from supplying STB for basic pay-TV services if there were sufficiently capable, secured and open standardised terminals in the market,” it said.
As per the company, the aim of technical interoperability should be to promote more open STBs in the retail market so that customers have a wider choice and continue to get support beyond the warranty period.
Reliance Digital TV believes that it is not possible to field upgrade or construct any box to support all the features in a single box without compromising the security needed to fulfill obligation to the content owner.
Additionally, it suggested that the product manufacturers ‘may’ be allowed to carry a logo for interoperability at different levels including CAS interoperability, network interoperability etc.
“Government should arrange/appoint interoperability testing labs, similar to Cablelabs (USA) or Digital TV lab (Europe), for conformance tests, against reference CAMs. Manufacturers could label their products with the compliance test certificates along with any additional capabilities. This will promote open market product as an industry, where consumers have choice during purchase,” Reliance Digital TV said.
Source: Mixed response on interoperability by stakeholders
