MIB ISSUES PROVISIONAL MSO LICENCES TO HATHWAY AND SITI JOINT VENTURE

The joint venture companies of multi-system operators (MSO) Hathway Cable and Datacom and Siti Cable have received provisional MSO licences from the Ministry of Information & Broadcasting (MIB). Hathway CCN Entertainment, the joint venture company of Hathway in Chhattisgarh has also received provisional licence for the state of Chhattisgarh.
The two registrations are part of the 38 new licences issued by the MIB in May which include two at the Pan-India level. Chennai-based Whitefield Communication and New Delhi-based Star Broadband have received Pan-India licences. Star Broadband earlier had permanent licence for Delhi.

Most of the registrations have been issued for digital addressable system (DAS) Phase III and IV areas in states like Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Maharashtra, Odisha, Jammu & Kashmir, Tamil Nadu, Rajasthan, Punjab, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh.

The ministry has also revised the areas of operation of two MSOs. Morena Cable Network, whose area of operation was limited to few areas in Madhya Pradesh, has got approval to operate in Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan.

To recall, the total provisional MSO licences in the country stand at 647 while the permanent registrations are the same at 230, as on 24 May. These exclude the MSOs whose registrations have been revoked even though they have got a stay order against the cancellation.

MIB REQUESTS CABLE TV OPERATORS IN DAS IV TO APPLY FOR MSO LICENCE

The Ministry of Information & Broadcasting (MIB) has advised cable TV operators in digital addressable system (DAS) Phase IV areas to apply for multi-system operator (MSO) licence before 30 April 2016. The ministry has requested cable TV operators to apply early, as adequate time is required for issuance of registration. The set date for DAS Phase IV is on the 31st December 2016.

The ministry wants to ensure that the licences are granted well ahead of the cut-off date so that MSOs can complete set-top box (STB) seeding before the deadline. As per Rule 11A of Cable Television Rules 1994, any cable TV operator who wants to provide digital cable TV service must have a DAS licence.

To recall, during the 14th Task Force meeting on DAS Phase III and IV, MIB special secretary and Task Force chairperson JS Mathur advised the MSOs and broadcasters to start working on interconnection agreements for the final phase of DAS covering rural areas. Arguing that Phase IV is not far away and preparations should go in full swing from now itself to achieve the targets, Mathur said that the MSOs and broadcasters should not wait for the Phase IV cut-off date to sign interconnection agreements.

MIB issues 3rd updated list of DAS III areas

Ministry of information and broadcasting released the 3rd updated list regarding the areas which will be affected by the digital switch over in DAS Phase III in India.

Based on comments/data received from the State/UT Governments, the lists of the following 3 States/UTs have been updated – Goa, Meghalaya and Sikkim.

The previous two lists were released in October and November catering for the urban areas of 16 states and 8 states respectively.

The digitization of cable television in India started with Phase I which concerned 6 metros and Phase II which included 40 big cities. The deadline for Phase III is fast approaching on December 31 this year and the urban regions will be affected by the switch over. By December 2016, the digital switch over process should be completed with Phase IV the last hurdle to be tackled next year.

MIB revealed that DAS Phase III is set to cover 38.79 million television households across 630 districts and 7,709 urban areas. The digitisation of analogue cable TV homes in the third phase will span 29 states and five union territories, including Delhi and Chandigarh, which were covered in Phases I and II of DAS along with other metro and semi-metro cities.

Phase III of DAS will cover all other urban areas (municipal corporations/municipalities) except cities/towns/areas that were covered in Phases I and Phase II. The cut-off date for Phase III is 31 December 2015.

More than 24 million set-top boxes (STBs) have been seeded by Multi-system operators (MSOs) and direct-to-home (DTH) players in DAS Phase I and II.

MIB clears 25 multi-system operator licences

Ministry of Information & Broadcasting (MIB) has granted 25 multi-system operators licences. The latest approvals take total number of MSOs in the country to over 190.

The Ministry has quicken the pace of MSO registrations to meet the the deadline for Phase III of digital addressable system (DAS). The biggest name among the MSOs that received provisional licence was Reliance Jio Media.

The third leg of DAS will cover 38.79 million television households across 630 districts and 7,709 urban areas, MIB has announced. The date for completion of phase III project has been extended to 31 December, 2015. India is likely to miss the deadline again, given that MSOs have failed to sign interconnect agreements with broadcasters. Cable operators are still in the process of seeding STBs in areas covered under Phase III of Tv digitisation.

The latest list of approved MSO licence-holders include; Den Saurashtra Entertainment, which has received the permission to operate in all regions in Gujarat covered under DAS. Sharma Electronics has obtained licence for Chamba district, Bakloh Chawari, Siunta in Chamba district and Nurpur, Kotla, Damtal. In the North-eastern part of India, Axom Communication & Cable has won approval for Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, Arunachal Pradesh and Sikkim.

MIB to issue provisional registration to multi-system operators

Ministry of Information & Broadcasting has announced that it is giving Multi-system operators provisional licences.

According to MIB, the provisional licences will only be given to applicants who have no history of convictions and to those who have passed earlier security clearances. MSOs, whose subsidiaries or parent companies have been denied security nod, will also not be given the provisional registration. Delay in security clearance from MHA as well as the fast approaching date for digital addressable system phase III rollout has prompted the Ministry to issue temporary licences.

“A large number of applications for grant of MSO registrations have been received in the Ministry. All complete applications have been sent to Ministry of Home Affairs for security clearance, as security clearance is mandatory as per rule11C of the Cable TV Networks Rules, 1994 for grant of MSO registration, MIB said.

Around 700 MSO applications have been pending before the MIB and the Ministry of Home Affairs. MIB has asked MSOs to sign an affidavit, declaring that they don’t have any criminal cases against them and that they will close operation if they are denied security clearance by the MHA, reports Indian Television.