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Modi Group is planning pay-TV gateway

The S K Modi Group, in association with London based Regent Communications, plans to build and operate a national, terrestrial wireless 'gateway' for providing access to pay-television in India.

The MMDS, or 'microwave multipoint distribution system' project is estimated at $750 million. The Modi Group will hold a majority stake in the venture. The deal will be formalised when norms on MMDS are finalised.

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The government had, a few years ago, issued licence to NOIDA-based Catvision to operate MMDS services in Bihar.

The project will provide educational, telemedicine, training facilities and Internet and related services to remote areas that cannot be accessed through cable TV and where direct-to-home services are not possible.

"Our plan is to offer digital and interactive MMDS with a focus on rural India," Chris North, managing director of Australia based Wattle Park Partners, said.

Wattle Park has an equity stake in Regent Communications.

According to North, MMDS will provide a cheaper and more effective alternative to DTH services.

"The vastness of MMDS provides excellent business prospects for us and the subscribers can benefit from an efficient system that is cheaper than DTH," North said.

Modi-Regent, the proposed joint venture, has submitted to the government that US-MMDS is becoming the technology of choice for high-speed Internet access and can be used to deliver video on demand.

Making a case for the government's concern over cultural invasion through skies, North points out that MMDS will give the government capability to control satellite broadcasting and to prohibit, when necessary, broadcast of subversive or offensive material.

However, North has ruled out localised MMDS, akin to that of Catvision, as it is not commercially viable.

MMDS are terrestrial systems that enable transmission of video and data to homes (point-to-multipoint). Such services operate on radio frequencies between 2-3 Giga Hertz providing up to 30 channels (depending on bandwidth) using analogue technology.

Digital MMDS, which Modi-Regent is proposing, will increase channel capacity to over 200 and pave the way for interactive capability for educational services.

- Compiled from the Indian media

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