New Delhi: The issue of portability among direct-to-home (DTH) set-top boxes offered by the six private operators has taken a serious turn with country’s leading DTH operator Dish TV blaming the ministry of information and broadcasting (I&B) for derailing and delaying its implementation.
Dish TV has accused the ministry of inaction in the last 18 months since it received the DTH standards recommended by the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) for MPEG-4 set-top boxes. “ issued by BIS in March 2009, after it was duly endorsed by all DTH operators, the I&B ministry has once again referred the matter to the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India for consultation. This clearly shows inaction and a deliberate delay on part of the government in implementing interoperability,” a senior Dish TV executive said.
The matter gains significance because currently the portability of DTH boxes is being heard by TDSAT after a complaint was made by a Tamil Nadu-based NGO. In the case, all stakeholders including the I&B ministry, Trai and the private DTH operators have been made party. Also, the Competition Commission of India has also investigated the matter to see if all DTH operators are in collusion and thereby not offering portable DTH boxes.
DTH portability allows the consumers to switch its DTH service provider without having to buy a new hardware (set-top box and antenna). Even the DTH licensing norms issued by the I&B ministry mandates interoperability and technical compatibility among DTH set-top boxes. While the BIS standards on interoperability talks about only MPEG-2 and DVB-S technology which is used by Dish TV, Tata Sky and DD Direct Plus. New DTH operators like Reliance Big TV, Airtel Digital TV, Sun Direct and Videocon D2H have all launched their operations using MPEG-4 compression technology for which currently there are no notified standards.
However, according to Dish TV, BIS did recommend the standards for MPEG-4 DTH boxes in March 2009. BIS, which is the supreme authority on technical matters and standards in the country, is authorised to notify new standards on its own. However, Dish TV says that I&B ministry had asked the BIS to refer back the finalised report on MPEG-4 DTH boxes which has led to the delay in norms for DTH portability, Dish TV said.
In its letter written to Trai last week on technical interoperability of DTH boxes, Dish TV said: “In this case 18 months have elapsed and the I&B ministry is yet to take any decision/action on it. The fact that I&B in their letter to BIS asked to refer back the finalised draft before notifying, leads to the inevitable apprehension and in fact conclusion that the I&B ministry never wanted the drafts to be notified.”
Dish TV says that technical interoperability in DTH boxes of varying technologies is possible using an add-on device called CAM or conditional access module which is available in the market for $3-$5.
Dish TV has also slammed the rival DTH operators for stating that portability is difficult and expensive to implement. Dish TV has also told Trai that the consultation process on interoperability was not required as there is already a consensus among the operators that they are working for the interoperability
“In the draft standards all the stake holders agreed to the basic fact the interoperability is a licence condition and thus should be maintained and agreed to formulate the standards accordingly...that all the operators in their affidavit filed in TDSAT in the Petition (Tamilnadu Progressive Consumer Centre v/s I&B ministry and others) have admitted that they are technically interoperable and are following the BIS notified standards/norms for the same.”
“...in case they (other DTH operators) have a different view point in response to this consultation paper then the same is directly contrary to their respective affidavits filed in TDSAT,” Dish TV said in its letter to Trai.
Dish TV blames I&B for lack of portability
Dish TV has accused the ministry of inaction in the last 18 months since it received the DTH standards recommended by the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) for MPEG-4 set-top boxes. “ issued by BIS in March 2009, after it was duly endorsed by all DTH operators, the I&B ministry has once again referred the matter to the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India for consultation. This clearly shows inaction and a deliberate delay on part of the government in implementing interoperability,” a senior Dish TV executive said.
The matter gains significance because currently the portability of DTH boxes is being heard by TDSAT after a complaint was made by a Tamil Nadu-based NGO. In the case, all stakeholders including the I&B ministry, Trai and the private DTH operators have been made party. Also, the Competition Commission of India has also investigated the matter to see if all DTH operators are in collusion and thereby not offering portable DTH boxes.
DTH portability allows the consumers to switch its DTH service provider without having to buy a new hardware (set-top box and antenna). Even the DTH licensing norms issued by the I&B ministry mandates interoperability and technical compatibility among DTH set-top boxes. While the BIS standards on interoperability talks about only MPEG-2 and DVB-S technology which is used by Dish TV, Tata Sky and DD Direct Plus. New DTH operators like Reliance Big TV, Airtel Digital TV, Sun Direct and Videocon D2H have all launched their operations using MPEG-4 compression technology for which currently there are no notified standards.
However, according to Dish TV, BIS did recommend the standards for MPEG-4 DTH boxes in March 2009. BIS, which is the supreme authority on technical matters and standards in the country, is authorised to notify new standards on its own. However, Dish TV says that I&B ministry had asked the BIS to refer back the finalised report on MPEG-4 DTH boxes which has led to the delay in norms for DTH portability, Dish TV said.
In its letter written to Trai last week on technical interoperability of DTH boxes, Dish TV said: “In this case 18 months have elapsed and the I&B ministry is yet to take any decision/action on it. The fact that I&B in their letter to BIS asked to refer back the finalised draft before notifying, leads to the inevitable apprehension and in fact conclusion that the I&B ministry never wanted the drafts to be notified.”
Dish TV says that technical interoperability in DTH boxes of varying technologies is possible using an add-on device called CAM or conditional access module which is available in the market for $3-$5.
Dish TV has also slammed the rival DTH operators for stating that portability is difficult and expensive to implement. Dish TV has also told Trai that the consultation process on interoperability was not required as there is already a consensus among the operators that they are working for the interoperability
“In the draft standards all the stake holders agreed to the basic fact the interoperability is a licence condition and thus should be maintained and agreed to formulate the standards accordingly...that all the operators in their affidavit filed in TDSAT in the Petition (Tamilnadu Progressive Consumer Centre v/s I&B ministry and others) have admitted that they are technically interoperable and are following the BIS notified standards/norms for the same.”
“...in case they (other DTH operators) have a different view point in response to this consultation paper then the same is directly contrary to their respective affidavits filed in TDSAT,” Dish TV said in its letter to Trai.
Dish TV blames I&B for lack of portability
