Why Tata Sky's Harit Nagpal is pained about the MPEG-4 STB rollout

[wasimoddin]

tata sky replace mpeg2 stb for free.

Tata Sky inks MPEG-4 STB contract with
Broadcom; will replace MPEG-2 STBs free of
charge
Posted On July 3, 2013 By Vishal Mathur
Tata Sky, one of India’s leading Direct to Home
(DTH) operators, has inked a deal with
Broadcom for its System on Chip hardware
based MPEG-4 Standard Definition set top
boxes (STB). This announcement comes soon
after Tata Sky had said that it plans on
switching over to the space efficient MPEG-4
technology for all channels. These set top
boxes will be the Standard Definition ones, and
will replace the MPEG-2 variety hardware that
was purchased by consumers during the initial
few years. Since 2010, Tata Sky’s SD, SD+, HD
and HD+ set top boxes have been MPEG-4
capable anyway.
"The move to MPEG-4 is a major milestone for
our company and a significant benefit to our
subscribers," said Harit Nagpal,Tata Sky CEO.
"Our goal is to enable our customers to enjoy
the growing volume of television content and
interactive services available for home
entertainment and information. We selected
Broadcom's satellite set-top box devices
because their best-in-class integration,
performance and energy-efficiency enable us
to meet the needs of our subscribers while also
reducing power and energy requirements in
the home."
"Our ongoing collaboration with Tata Sky has
allowed the company to provide a cost-
effective transition to MPEG-4 using our
BCM7301 SoC," said Rich Nelson, Broadcom
Senior Vice President, Broadband
Communications Group.
We had been getting hints about this change
for quite some time now. First, Tata Sky has
already said that it will be going to courts over
ISRO’s inability to provide it with additional
transponder space, despite the application
being pending since 2007. (Read here ). The
space crunch on the existing transponders has
severely hampered Tata Sky’s ability to offer a
wider channel offering, something that the
rivals are doing. Second, Tata Sky launched the
Star Sports 2 channels recently in the MPEG-4
format on its platform, and is only available on
the compatible hardware. However, conversion
of existing popular entertainment and sports
channels cannot be done till all hardware is
replaced across the subscriber base.
Tata Sky HD+ DVR, like the newer SD boxes as
well as SD+ and HD STBs. is already MPEG-4
capable. But, the problem is with the much
older SD boxes, which are compatible only
with MPEG-2 broadcasting standards.
Immediately after this announcement, in an
interview with Indiantelevision.com, Tata Sky
Managing Director, Mr. Harit Nagpal said, “We
are replacing close to 5-6 million MPEG-2 SD
STBs at no cost to consumers over the next
year. All of this is coming in from internal
accruals.". However, he is clearly unhappy
about having to take this massive step of
replacing millions of older MPEG-2 hardware.
He adds, "But I am being forced to do this
because Indian Space Research Organisation's
(ISRO) has yet to give me my transponders. I
could have put this money elsewhere on
expanding my digitisation plans."
It would be interesting to see what legal action
Tata Sky takes against ISRO, once the courts
open after the summer break. Tata Sky
currently used the transponders on the Insat
4A satellite, and has done so ever since the
services launched in India. Despite GSAT-10
being in orbit since late last year, at the same
coordinates as the Insat 4A satellite, ISRO
hasn’t provided the transponder access to Tata
Sky.

 

[Vadirocks]

RE: tata sky replace mpeg2 stb for free.

They Must Do That In Order To Satisfy Customers