Document Fragment View

Matching Fragments

4. Submissions to the DG (Inv.) by the respondents

(i) Tata Sky

a) Tata Sky gives its set top box on outright purchase to customers.

b) Its set top box complies with extant rules framed by the government.

c) Its set top box cannot be used for any other DTH service because it uses old format.

d) It has not sold any stand alone CAM in the market.

e) It works on prepaid model, so it does not charge customers when service not used.

(ii) Dish TV

a) Its set top box is compliant of extant rules.

b) Its set top box can work for any other DTH operator.

c) It does not charge for period when service not availed.

d) It has sold 571 stand alone CAM to Kingfisher airline.

e) It has refund partial cost of 30 STBs returned by customers.

(iii) Reliance Big TV

a) Its set top box is compliant of extant rules.

b) All its set top box are on rental.

c) It has not sold stand alone CAM.

d) Its set top box can work for other operators if authorized.

e) It charges Rs. 100 per month for the period that customer does not avail its service.


 (iv) Sun Direct

      a)      Its set top box is compliant of extant rules.
      b)      Its set top box can be used for other DTH operators.



(v)   Airtel Digital

      a)      The Commission has no jurisdiction in the matter.
      b)      Its set top box is compliant of prevailing regulations.
      c)      Its set top box is not sold but given without any rent for use by customers.
      d)      Its set top box can be used for other DTH operators.
(vi) Videocon d2h

      a)      Videocon does not force buyers to accept hardware/set top box from it
      b)      Set top box and viewing card is paired to prevent piracy.
      c)      It is cheaper to consumer to buy bundled product, rather than separate
              CAM.
      d)      The bundled set top box provided by Videocon enhances customer
              experience.
      e)      Its set top box is compliant of prevailing regulations.
      f)      It has not sold any stand alone CAM.

12. Before proceeding further it is necessary to examine the guidelines of the sectoral operator i.e. TRAI and the licensing conditions of the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting. On interoperability TRAI vide its orders dated 30.01.2008 opined as follows-

(a) It is seen that in the present state of DTH market in the country, technical interoperability has not taken deep roots. The main reason for this is the unavailability of Conditional Access Modules (CAM) of different DTH service providers. The BIS specifications for DTH set top boxes require each set top box to have a Common Interface (CI) slot for the purposes of technical interoperability. Technical interoperability is achieved by plugging in the CAM of new DTH operator in the CI slot of set top box provided by the existing DTH operator. For example, a subscriber of DTH operator 'A' who wishes to switch over to DTH operator 'B' has to procure a CAM from 'B' and plug and CAM into the CI slot of the set top box supplied by 'A'. This enables the subscriber to start receiving the services of 'B' using the existing set top box and dish antenna (although the dish antenna has to be re-aligned towards the satellite being used by 'B'. As of now the Conditional Access Modules (CAM) are not being supplied by the DTH operators as the Conditional Access Modules (CAM) presently cost almost as much as a new set top box. Therefore, technical interoperability has not been very successful. However, it is expected that the new DTH service providers, who may be interested in taking over the DTH subscribers of existing DTH operators, will start making available conditional Access Modules (CAM). Moreover, presently the DTH market is at a nascent stage with a small subscriber base. With a small subscriber base, the churn or shift from one service provider to another is going to be even smaller. Therefore, the demand for Conditional Access Modules (CAM) is also very limited. Once, the subscriber base of DTH grows and the churn becomes substantial, the demand for Conditional Access Modules (CAM) will also increase and it is expected that increase in volumes will result in drastic fall in prices of Conditional Access Module (CAM). Hence, it is essential to ensure that all the set top boxes have the CI slot mandated by the BIS specifications in order to benefit from the technical interoperability in near future.