MUMBAI: If last year, Star India had linked a 25 per cent drop in subscription rates per subscriber (from Rs 40 to Rs 30) to a 100 per cent increase in declarations, this time round, it is taking a softer line with the cable fraternity.

Star India CEO Peter Mukerjea told indiantelevision.com this evening his network was dropping its per subscriber price by 10 per cent from the current Rs 30 to Rs 27 if cable operators offered a reasonable increase in declarations. While Mukerjea did not specify by how much the cable op would have to increase declarations to avail of the 10 per cent drop in rates, industry sources say Star is seeking a 40 per cent increase in declared connectivity.
 
 
Asked about how cable operators were reacting to Star's new rate plane, Coda (Cable Operators and Distributors Association) president and proprietor of Dattatray Cable Anil Parab said he was yet to get any official notification on the matter. Parab, however, said that the cable operators would probably meet on Friday or Saturday to discuss the issue once they had Star's proposal in hand.

SET India CEO Kunal Dasgupta would not be drawn into a comment on how his network would be priced except to state that he expected to reach some decision on the matter by Friday.

Zee Telefilms additional vice-chairman and head of its cable arm Siti Cable Jawahar Goel, while stating he was still awaiting official word from Star on its price, said, "We are distributors of content, including that of Star. If there is any price hike we will pass it on to the consumers."

Mukerjea, meanwhile, also clarified that the reduced subscrition rate applied only to Star's current bouquet of channels. The newly added on History Channel, which debuted in India on Sunday (30 November) on the network, would be priced at between Rs 6 and 8, said Mukerjea.