Thakur
Banned
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New Delhi, July 28: Consumers dissatisfied
with the services of their direct-to-home (DTH)
operator may soon be able to shift to another
one without having to change the set-top box.
The Centre has asked the-Telecom Regulatory
Authority of India to explore how set-top box
(STB) inter-operability can be effectively made
possible.
Technical inter-operability will give the
customer flexibility to change the service
provider without having to change the
customer premises equipment. It will only
require changing a smart card, as in mobile
communications.
I&B ministry officials said TRAI had released a
recommendation paper last week on a new
DTH licensing regime.
“In the paper, the authority has said STB inter-
operability is not possible at present because
of different technologies adopted by operators
at different times of entering the market. They
have asked the bureau of Indian standards
(BIS) to regularly update the standard of STB
technology,” said a senior official.
“We have now asked for recommendations on
how portability of DTH set-top boxes can be
done easily.”
This would be a step forward, in line with the
practice prevailing in the global market.
Under the existing DTH rules too, set-top
boxes have to inter-operable. But DTH
operators have not ensured this, flouting
licensing terms.
Some DTH operators have argued that set-top
box inter-operability should be kept out of
licensing guidelines. Dish TV, Tata Sky,
Videocon d2h, Reliance Digital TV and Airtel
Digital TV have claimed that achieving inter-
operability is difficult because of varying
technologies adopted by DTH operators and is
commercially unviable. Old set-top box, but new DTH operator
with the services of their direct-to-home (DTH)
operator may soon be able to shift to another
one without having to change the set-top box.
The Centre has asked the-Telecom Regulatory
Authority of India to explore how set-top box
(STB) inter-operability can be effectively made
possible.
Technical inter-operability will give the
customer flexibility to change the service
provider without having to change the
customer premises equipment. It will only
require changing a smart card, as in mobile
communications.
I&B ministry officials said TRAI had released a
recommendation paper last week on a new
DTH licensing regime.
“In the paper, the authority has said STB inter-
operability is not possible at present because
of different technologies adopted by operators
at different times of entering the market. They
have asked the bureau of Indian standards
(BIS) to regularly update the standard of STB
technology,” said a senior official.
“We have now asked for recommendations on
how portability of DTH set-top boxes can be
done easily.”
This would be a step forward, in line with the
practice prevailing in the global market.
Under the existing DTH rules too, set-top
boxes have to inter-operable. But DTH
operators have not ensured this, flouting
licensing terms.
Some DTH operators have argued that set-top
box inter-operability should be kept out of
licensing guidelines. Dish TV, Tata Sky,
Videocon d2h, Reliance Digital TV and Airtel
Digital TV have claimed that achieving inter-
operability is difficult because of varying
technologies adopted by DTH operators and is
commercially unviable. Old set-top box, but new DTH operator
hya
