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NEW DELHI: With 178,000 STBs seeded in the South Delhi Cas
area, and an overall of just a little under 450,000 STBs seeded
in the three metros as of date (Mumbai 210,000 and Kolkata
48,000-plus), the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India is
happy with the physical roll out of Cas, Trai Advisor Rakesh
Kacker tells indiantelevision.com.
However, there still remains the issue of implementation
of the consumer choices, which has not been done so far, he
informed.
Explaining the surprisingly small number of STBs that south-Kolkatans
have opted for, Kacker said: "I am told that the area chosen
is the problem. That (Behala and other places) is not typically
the area where people would opt for the boxes."
He explained that though people there could afford the boxes,
since the initial deposit is as little as Rs 250, "I
believe that people in these areas have a monthly billing
of as low as Rs 70 or 80 at the most, so they feel that the
FTAs is good enough for them."
But why has the "pay-for-watching" system not been
implemented so far?
"The main problem, of course, is human resources available
with the cable operators to give the connections as per choice
expressed by the customer. That being limited, it is taking
time because of bunching of applications," he explained.
In fact, it is a complex problem, he admitted.
"In some cases, the operators tell us that the customers
have yet not filled up the form because they cannot decide.
In other cases, there is the lack of manpower."
Interestingly, one of the practices that MSOs resorted to
during the transition period has further caused delay in the
implementation of customer choice, or what is usually termed
as "watch what you pay for".
In the beginning, whoever paid for either renting or buying
an STB had been given access by MSOs to all the available
channels, and the latter had said that once the customers
filed their choices - a la carte or bouquets - the bill for
the first month would reflect that alone and not the entire
package being shown initially.
"But customers may have started feeling that they are
getting everything for the same amount of money, so why should
they fill forms for specific choice? So they too are not submitting
their forms," Kacker explained.
Wasn't there a cut off date for implementation. Some of the
MSOs had told indiantelevision.com that the system of receiving
all the channels would stop from January 20. Kacker, however,
differed: "I am not aware of any such order by us at
Trai."
"Actually, seeding the boxes was the first priority,
so now that has stabilised and now we have to implement the
customer choice. I am more than happy with the number of boxes
seeded, which goes a little beyond my original calculations.
There was a shortage in the beginning of January because of
the sudden spurt in demand, but the situation has stabilised,"
Kacker added.
But what about the problem of frequent signal loss? And the
fact that when there is signal box, there are no helpline
numbers available on the TV screen, where it should be? Isn't
that an issue of 'quality of service'?
Kacker dismissed the issue of signal loss and pixelisation
of images, saying that the number of complaints are insignificant,
and they could occur for a variety of reasons. And in any
case, the helpline is always available with the customer.
"Don't tell me the customers do not know the telephone
numbers of their cable operators!" he said.
Is there a decision to extend Cas to other areas in the three
metros? It is too premature to say, he opined. Instead, he
wants the system to stabilise.
There is no way of knowing the actual number of sets seeded
by the DTH operators. But as far as controlling tariff for
DTH is concerned, Kacker said Trai's position has been expressed
in an affidavit placed with TDSAT and he could not further
comment on that.
Earlier last month, during a hearing of TDSAT, it was read
out in the court by a lawyer for a DTH player that Trai had
said it has been considering the issue of DTH tariff fixation
and a consultation paper would be distributed. Trai counsels
present at the hearing, but had not objected to the lawyer's
statement.
A news agency had reported that Tra has said it is too premature
to consider tariff fixation for DTH, but Kacker dismissed
the issue: "The agency can say what it wants to, how
does it make a difference to me. We have told TDSAT what we
had to."
However, today Kacker still refused to comment, saying that
the matter was in the court.
And would Trai - futuristically speaking - have any role
to play in regulating Mobile TV?
"It is not clear. People speak of mobile TV as if it
is one system, but this can happen through telecom through
Internet, through terrestrial lines and so forth. Maybe there
could be issues of quality of service or tariff fixing, but
it all depends on who is providing the service and through
which platform," Kacker concluded.
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