Monday 16 September 2013

TDSAT directs Media Pro to provide pay TV signals to NSTPL

The Telecom Disputes Settlement Appellate Tribunal (TDSAT) has directed Media Pro Enterprises to provide pay TV channel signals and content to Noida Software Technology Park Ltd’s (NSTPL’s) HITS platform (JAINHITS) on a pan-India basis, according to the Appellate Body’s September 12 order. NSTPL Promoted JAINHITS is currently the only Distributor of TV Channels that is providing advanced HITS Services to consumers through Cable Operators (LCOs).
The service to NSTPL (JAINHITS) is set to start within three weeks, as per the judgment. This landmark judgement will help digistisation reach 60,000 LCOs. Without HITS it is virtually impossible to complete third phase of digitization as large MSOs do not find it viable to operate in these markets. This leads to armtwisting of small operators. This also provides a viable alternative to expensive DTH service for price-sensitive markets in phase 3 and 4 of digitisation. This kind of digitisation also leads to widespread proliferation of broadband services.
The bench of Hon’ble Mr Justice Aftab Alam and Hon’ble Mr Kuldip Singh observed: “To ensure digitization and addressability in the cable sector and to ensure greater competition”.
NSTPL’s counsel Vivek Chib said, “This judgement will not only have far reaching impact in the broadcasting sector but would also give further impetus to the digitization policy of the Government of India by benefitting small cable operators. It would revitalise the broadcasting sector, through the application of the regulatory framework as envisaged under the TRAI Act.”
NSTPL as a HITS Service Provider offers a serious competition to the Direct to Home (DTH) Services, provided by eminent players such as Tata Sky and Dish TV, as well as large MSOs such as DEN Networks and Hathways, by providing consumers with the choice to subscribe to TV Channel Distribution Services that are digital/encrypted as well as of a higher quality than DTH Services. It will also help the 60,000-odd LCOs in the country.
The bench of Hon’ble Mr Justice Aftab Alam, chairperson of TDSAT, and Hon’ble Mr Kuldip Singh, Member, held that Media Pro cannot refuse to grant TV channel signals and content to distributors – which include HITS operators also – on the grounds of technical specifications. The Tribunal further held that NSTPL’s JAINHITS met all the technical requirements and incorporating further requirements was beyond the scope of the regulatory framework.
The order said: “.. This together with the misuse of market dominance by the aggregators has led to aberrations in the market. With time, consolidation has taken place in the aggregators’ business and now the top four aggregators control around 73% of the total pay TV channel market and wield substantial negotiating power which can be, and is often misused.” Dr. J. K. Jain the Group Chairman JAIN TV Group and founder of NSTPL noted, “this judgment will end the monopoly and arm twisting done by major aggregators as through HITS all in demand Pay TV channels will be available to all seekers.”
After the launch of its JAINHITS facility, NSTPL, had approached Media Pro, the authorized distribution agency/content aggregator for about 75 TV Channels owned by Zee and Star. However Media Pro kept deferred the process for over a year, on various grounds, the latest being the imposition on NSTPL to incorporate in its distribution system technical requirements beyond the scope of the regulatory legal framework prescribed under the Telecommunication Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) Act.
The Tribunal described the response of Media Pro to NSTPL’s requests for TV Channel Signals as “lukewarm and temporizing”. At the same time the Hon'ble Tribunal also recognized the benefits that NSTPL’s HITS Platform would provide consumers by providing high definition digital alternative to DTH Services.
The Tribunal held that as a matter of law, if content aggregators like Media Pro were allowed to require from Distributors technical specifications in their systems beyond the scope of the regulatory framework, it would “not only lead to highly unpredictable and uncertain state of affairs but would also amount to the TDSAT assuming legislative function”. Apart from this the Tribunal rejected concerns raised by Media Pro that NSTPL’s HITS Platform could result in piracy outside India. It said that the concern of piracy is equally if not more imminent in the case of DTH Services.

Source: http://cablequest.org/news/legal-news/item/3238-tdsat-directs-media-pro-to-provide-pay-tv-signals-to-nstpl.html
Source: http://cablequest.org/news/legal-news/item/3238-tdsat-directs-media-pro-to-provide-pay-tv-signals-to-nstpl.html

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