(31 May 2008 4:30 pm)

NEW DELHI: The Telecom Disputes Settlement & Appellate Tribunal (Tdsat) today issued notices against Star Den Media Services and Star India on a petition filed by WWIL (Wire & Wireless India Ltd) and Dish TV India for refusing the channels for the latter’s HITS (Headend-In-The-Sky) platform.

The Zee group companies, WWIL and Dish TV, have sued Star Den and Star India, petitioning the Tdsat that the respondents be ordered to give signals in both Cas (conditional access system) notified areas as well as non-Cas areas at the Trai-prescribed Cas rates, and on a la carte basis.

In fact, WWIL and Dish TV have argued that the Star Den and Star India relationship itself violates Tdsat’s previous order in the Sea TV case, in which it had ordered a broadcaster cannot have a competing MSO (multi-system operator) as its agent; nor could it have an exclusive arrangement.

That decision had been upheld by the Supreme Court last year.

The petition, first ever related to the HITS platform, has been filed with the interim prayer being that the respondents be ordered to give the signals of all their channels, first in the non-Cas areas.

Subsequently, the petitioners seek the court’s indulgence to extend the same order to cover all Cas and non-Cas areas across the country, with the channel prices at Cas rates (Rs 5 per channel per subscriber).

WWIL has argued that HITS is a complete digital solution that best serves the interests of the broadcasters, cable operators and consumers. The platform can bring in uniform quality of digitalisation in the farthest corners of the country.

WWIL and Dish TV have cited the Trai regulation that says “Every broadcaster shall provide on request signals of its TV channels on non-discriminatory terms to all distributors of TV channels, which may include…HITS operator.”

The petitioners have argued that as per the Trai regulation, any broadcaster of TV channels must give its signals to any distributor of channels within 60 days of the distributor (MSO, LCO, HITS) seeking the signals in writing.

The regulation says that broadcasters of channels can only give a written denial but within those 60 days. The petitioners have shown that they have been requesting signals of 17 channels under the respondents’ umbrella since 2006, and yet have not been given the signals.