The government on Thursday cleared changes to the current channel down-linking guidelines to allow broadcasters to provide content to telecom service providers for Internet Protocol TV.
The cable industry has asked the government to quickly address the policy issues related to the Internet Protocol TV. Otherwise, over 3,000 unauthorised television channels, which include pornography, will enter Indian homes.
State-owned Mahangar Telephone Nigam's (MTNL) ambitious drive to become a major player in the internet protocol TV (IPTV) services sector is facing a roadblock. IPTV is a technology that uses telephone lines to provide TV programming to viewers.
Poor broadband penetration, high priced set-top boxes and last-mile (to the home) connectivity problems are delaying the telecom industry's much-touted plan of rolling out Internet Protocol Television (IPTV) services.
With CAS just round the corner, the cable operators are gearing up to offer value added services. One big initiative that seems to be on the move is the attempt to offer Internet and IPTV.
Bharti Airtel on Monday launched its Internet Protocol Television (IPTV) service, becoming the first private player to offer the service in the country.
IOL Broadband said on Friday it will broadcast two BBC channels -- CBeebies and BBC Entertainment -- through its internet protocol television platform.
President, Telemedia Services, Bharti Airtel, Atul Bindal, said unlike DTH, IPTV services would be available only in few major cities. The company had recently introduced DTH service in the country.
Hyderabad-based Goldstone Technologies, a software technology and services company, is all set to launch IPTV services in Malaysia and Thailand.
Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Ltd has already launched IPTV in Delhi. Its partner, Aksh, may soon tie up with Zee and ESPN too since content and pricing will hold the key to success as others join the fray.
State-owned Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Ltd has signed a deal with an Israeli firm and its Indian partner to expand the telecom giant's IPTV services, which will enable TV broadcasts through telephone lines.
IPTV and Mobile TV, the new cable distribution platforms that have emerged recently. A clarification issued by the ministry of information and broadcasting recently makes it compulsory for all broadcasters to immediately share their channels with Wire & Wireless India Ltd, the HITS licence holding company of Essel Group.
Reliance Communications is planning to hive off its direct-to-home and Internet protocol TV businesses into a separate company titled Reliance Digital Works.
Tech Mahindra and IT infrastructure major Sun Microsystems announced on Monday a strategic alliance to provide systems and software for internet protocol television services to customers in India and Asia Pacific markets.
Telecom firms like Bharti Airtel, Reliance Communications and MTNL have shown interest to start IPTV services, where television signal is carried to homes through telecom lines and broadband.
Consumer mindset and lack of awareness and also the fact that the existing players -cable and DTH -will make life very difficult for us. They are very aggressive and create confusion on IPTV, through newspaper articles.
This means the cable companies engaged in last-mile distribution of TV channels will qualify for the existing 49 per cent FDI limit, while operators of DTH, HITS, IPTV and multi-system operators will be able to bring in up to 74 per cent FDI, a limit proposed by broadcast regulator Telecom Regulatory Authority of India.
Going the Obama way to reach out to millions of people, Bharatiya Janata Party is launching 'Advani TV' via IPTV technique to build the popularity of L K Advani, the party's prime ministerial candidate, in the run-up to the Lok Sabha polls.
With the consolidation process in the ISP industry happening all around, it is giving an impetus to players to move into the latest operations in Internet technology business.
It's been a bumpy ride so far for Internet TV, but faithfuls insist it won't be for long.
Services would be introduced on eight Delhi-bound Shatabdi trains and then in Rajdhanis and Durontos.
In separate petitions filed at the Telecom Disputes Settlement and Appellate Tribunal, ESPN Software India, MSM Discovery, Zee Turner and Star Den Media Services said the tariff suggested by the sectoral regulator was not commercially viable.
Reliance BIG TV, the DTH arm of Reliance Communications, is planning to introduce 60 more channels including its own entertainment channels in the next three months, a top company official said.
Anil Ambani group firm Reliance Communications will acquire Digicable, the country's largest cable TV service provider, in an all-stock deal believed to be worth about $1 billion.
BSNL will use the investment for mobile expansion and for services like 3G, broadband, wireless broadband, IPTV, WiMAX, mobile commerce (m-commerce), value-added landline, Enterprise Resource Planning and others.
Ambani termed COAI's appeal to the telecom tribunal against the government granting RCom dual-use technology (CDMA and GSM) as "unnecessary and unwarranted". RCom, the country's largest provider of CDMA mobile services, recently received permission to start GSM services under its existing licence for which it paid a fee of Rs 1,651 crore (Rs 16.51 billion).
All the integrated private telecom operators like Bharti, Reliance are targeting high as well as mass market broadband subscribers to shore up their non-telephony revenues. BSNL operates all over the country, except in Delhi and Mumbai.
Cable TV operators can register under the Cable Television Network (Regulation) Act, 1995, to provide Internet Protocol Television services without requiring any licence, the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India has said. In its recommendations, TRAI has also said that the IPTV operators are required to register as cable operators to provide services in the country.
Bharti hopes to make Airtel the country's most-admired brand by 2010. Has it done enough to rise above the clutter?
Trai and telecom companies are divided in their views on the issue of raising the foreign direct investment (FDI) limit in various media-related activities like cable television, direct-to-home, etc. Trai has proposed across-the-board increase in the FDI limit across cable (49 per cent), DTH (49 per cent), HITS (no existing limit) and satellite radio (no existing limit) to 74 per cent, as allowed in the telecom sector. Companies like Bharti Airtel are supporting this proposal
Sports broadcaster ESPN STAR Sports has bagged the telecast rights of the Vancouver 2010 and London 2012 Olympic Games for cable and satellite television, IPTV and Mobile TV platforms.
Ending the long wait over next generation telecom services, MTNL on Friday said it will commercially launch its 3G services in the national capital within 10 days.
DTH may emerge as the leader among the digital platforms in the next three years, said an Ernst & Young report - "India Digital Revolution: Impact on Film & Television" - released at the Assocham global summit on the media and entertainment industry in New Delhi. The report expects India's television advertising market to grow by 14 per cent annually for the next three years.
© 2026 Rediff.com - Investor Information - Advertise with us - Disclaimer - Privacy Policy - Sitemap - Feedback - About us - Terms of use - Grievances