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More
than three months after the ESPN Star Sports feed to the
Hinduja  group
promoted INCable Net was switched off in Mumbai in a dispute
over the declared connectivity that the MSO was willing
to accept, the two sides finally thrashed out an agreement
in the early hours today at 1:30 am.
An joint press release stated that with the "landmark settlement",
InCable Net and ESPN Software "have resolved all outstanding
issues, and entered a new era of cooperation and long-term
relationship to the satisfaction of both the parties."
Following the agreement, all outstanding legal cases between
the two parties will be withdrawn at the earliest.
The agreement that was reached last night is the outcome
of hectic parleys that have been on for the the last few
weeks. And the major impetus for the meeting of the minds
as it were was, as is to be expected, cricket. India has
just embarked on a two-month tour of the Caribbean and the
India-West Indies cricket series officially begins 11 April.
As regards the source of the dispute, it was not really
the new monthly subscription rate of Rs 24 for the two sports
channels that was the core issue but the declared subscriber
base that INCable was willing to accede to. The new rates
became effective 1 January 2001 and ESPN Software switched
off its feed on 5 January.
At the end of last year, 150,000 was the declared subscriber
base that ESPN Star Sports had with INCable. Though no one
was willing to come on record, industry sources say the
new subscriber base that has been agreed to is above 200,000.
Speaking on behalf of INCable, Rajeev Vyas, president, said:
“The spirit of the agreement encourages cooperation between
the service providers and the cable operators, and both
parties will work towards enhancing subscriber base at the
same time increasing quality of service to consumers.”
Sricharan Iyengar, vice-president - affiliate sales ESPN
Software India said: “A long-term agreement of this nature
envisages closer cooperation between the two parties to
ensure that all issues are sorted out through discussions
and mutual understanding. We believe that such an agreement
will immensely benefit the channels, the cable operators
and the consumers.”
The new contract that has been signed between ESPN Software
and InCable is a backdated one that runs for the next two
years from 1 January 2002 to 31 December 2003. There have
been clauses included in the new contract that allow for
ramping up of declared subscriber base over the next two
years. It is not clear at this stage whether the agreement
is based on the present subscription rate being maintained
for the full duration of the contract or whether there will
be an increase in rates at the beginning of next year as
has been the case till now. Another question is whether
there is any limit on how much the sports broadcaster can
hike its rates.
One thing that appears clear from the new terms that have
been worked into the contract is that it will be binding
on both sides to adhere to it. By the looks of it, the consumer
can expect a far more incident free two years than has been
the case till now.
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