Cabinet Nod To Iptv Policy For Commercial Roll Out Of Services

[Arun 795]

21 Aug, 2008, 2011 hrs IST

Press Trust of India

Government on Thursday cleared the policy framework for the commercial roll out of Internet Protocol TV services, a new cable TV delivery platform that would benefit telecom players as well as consumers.

"Issuance of guidelines on IPTV will bring clarity on defining the parameters in which such service providers will work as also clarifying how these services are going to be regulated", Information and Broadcasting Minister P R Dasmunsi said after the Cabinet meeting on Thursday.

The Cabinet also gave its approval to amend the Policy guidelines for downlinking of TV channels for allowing broadcasters to provide content to IPTV service providers, he said.

Current downlinking norms allow broadcasters to only share their channels with cable and direct-to-home platforms.

Modification of downlinking guidelines will enable IPTV service providers to obtain content of registered satellite TV channels from the Broadcasters.

IPTV involves delivery of television and video signals over a broadband network. It uses high speed internet to deliver television channels but also other value added services like time-shift TV, interactive advertising, movies without any advertisements, games among other such services.

State-owned BSNL and MTNL are already providing IPTV services across several cities while private players like Bharti Airtel and Reliance Communications are waiting to launch their IPTV services.

Broadcast regulator Trai had recommended a higher foreign investment cap of 74 per cent for the IPTV sector in comparison to the FDI cap of 49 per cent in the cable sector.

[Arun 795]

90-day TV content now on IPTV

New Delhi - Press Trust of India

Saturday, August 23, 2008

Now you need not worry about missing your favourite television programme as you can view it anytime within 90 days of telecast thanks to a new compulsory clause introduced by the government for the newly cleared Internet Protocol television(IPTV) service.

This content storage clause, included by the Information and Broadcasting Ministry in the TRAI-recommended IPTV downlinking guidelines, is expected to revolutionise television viewing in the country, allowing viewers not to bother about TV schedules, but view them when they wish to.

"We will be including a compulsory content storage clause in the IPTV guidelines, whereby service providers will be required to retain all televised content over a period of 90 days and enable viewing of the programmes on consumer's demand," a top Information and Broadcasting Ministry official told PTI here on Saturday.

IPTV, the essence of convergence in ICE-age (Information, Communication and Entertainment), is likely to take India by storm, enabling access to three communication mediums of telephony, internet and satellite television from a single-point connection from a telecom service provider.

State-run MTNL and BSNL, along with private players Reliance and Bharti Airtel, have already conducted trials of the IPTV at various locations across the country.

The government is expected to make public within a fortnight the I&B Ministry's IPTV downlinking guidelines, which would impose three other important clauses on the telecom service providers seeking an IPTV broadcast licence.

[Honest 836]

Now you need not worry about missing your favourite television programme as you can view it anytime within 90 days of telecast thanks to a new compulsory clause introduced by the government for the newly cleared Internet Protocol television(IPTV) service.

^^^

Now thats some great news my dear friends. Actually this is the need, as now a days everyone's schedule is too busy that many a times people miss their favourite programmes. But after the above been implemented they will have a relief.

Regards.

[shashank 8]

90 days??Thats great..

But where can the providers store so much of data??? Is it for all channels?

[Arun 795]

@shashank: It isn't going to be stored at the viewer's end, but it will be stored at the operator's end. The viewer will be able to "download" the content on demand.

Centre orders IPTV players to carry 8 DD channels

Monday, September 29, 2008 03:59 IST

DNA India

NEW DELHI: The government has significantly increased the number of TV channels to be compulsorily carried on IPTV (internet protocol television) platforms. In a memorandum issued to all IPTV owners, the information and broadcasting (I& ministry has listed eight, including Doordarshan and Parliament channels, on the must-carry list.

The other must-carry channels are Lok Sabha Television, DD Rajya Sabha, DD-1 or national channel, DD News, DD Sports, DD Urdu, Gyan Darshan and DD Bharti. Cable TV operators, as per the Cable TV Network Regulation, are supposed to air at least two DD terrestrial channels, two Parliament channels and one regional channel — a total of five. As for direct-to-home (DTH) players, it is mandatory for them to have at least four channels—two DD and two Parliament channels—on their platforms.

Sujata Dev, co-founder of IPTV Forum, an industry body, said the government has asked IPTV players to carry more state-owned (DD) channels because of the general perception that there’s no bandwidth restriction here, unlike in DTH or cable TV. While admitting that relatively there’s less restriction on bandwidth in IPTV, she said every channel takes up around 2MBPS. “We are going to approach the government on this issue,” said Dev.

This is not the only issue that IPTV players are grappling with. There’s no clarity on pricing of channels in IPTV either, she added.

Also, the recent consultation paper of the telecom regulator, Trai, on restricting cross-media ownership may also pose a hurdle, she argued.

Many players may like to wait and watch the government move on cross-media ownership rules before commercially launching their IPTV ventures, she argued.

On an average, an IPTV platform is expected to have anything between 100 to 200 channels. Last month, the government made IPTV a lawful broadcasting operation. Till then, IPTV has been in a no-man’s land, and its regulation a grey area. State-owned telcos, Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd (BSNL) and Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Ltd (MTNL), commercially launched their IPTV services a few months ago. But, they have been facing problems in accessing content from registered broadcasters, in the absence a policy framework. Among the private players, Bharti and Reliance Communications have conducted their IPTV pilots across many cities, but they are yet to commercially launch the service. IPTV refers to a distribution platform using high-speed internet, to offer TV channels along with many interactive and value-added services. For instance, an IPTV subscriber can pause a live show, record it and watch it later.

TRAI had earlier this year recommended that uplinking and downlinking guidelines should be amended to enable broadcasters to provide signals to all distributors of TV channels including IPTV service providers.

[Honest 836]

I&B Ministry May Allow Cable Operators Right Of Way For IPTV

We’ve heard that the I&B Ministry and the TRAI can’t quite see eye-to-eye over IPTV regulations - the regulations were released by the I&B Ministry, but also covered telecom operators. Soma Das writes in The Financial Express that the the I&B Ministry is planning to recommend that Cable Operators also be granted Right of Way for laying down and owning fibre optic infrastructure and setting up transmission towers. At present, only Telecom operators and ISPs are allowed the Right of Way, which gives them a competitive advantage over Cable Operators in case of IPTV services.

I wonder how things will play out when Cable Operators offer IPTV or digital cable over fibre - if it’s over Internet Protocol, then they can also provide value added services, over Internet Protocol. In that case, shouldn’t it also be governed by the Telecom Ministry? This is an era of a convergence of Telecom and Broadcast, and we need a convergence of regulation…perhaps even a convergence of Ministries (I&B and Telecom).

However, the ideal solution would be to separate content from carriage - in which all content transmitted would be governed by the Ministry of I&B, and the distribution business - of DTH, Cable TV, IPTV, Mobile TV, Broadband and Mobile will come under the Telecom Ministry. I made a few notes from the TRAI Open House Discussion over Cross Media Ownership, and will put those up soon.

Courtesy : Medianama

[shashank 8]

Hey guys i read in one of the broadband forums that Airtel IPTV service will launch on Jan 1st 2009 and will have the following tariffs:

1249 ---- 145 channels ----- 256 kbps UL

1499 ---- 145 channels ----- 512 kbps UL

1499 ---- 145 channels ----- 2 mbps (6GB download)

Can anyone here confirm whether the info is true..

[Harshal 11]

Do you mean this is a hybrid plan of UL net use + IPTV? Nice offering and seems reasonably priced.

[srk006 21]

^^ But I guess there is no official communication from AirTel or is there any?

[commonman 228]

If we are going for the ICE-age, may be its time for converting the various ministries into a new ICE Ministry with a single regulator.