Plan to raise number of cable TV channels

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MADURAI: The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has proposed to establish head-end in the sky (HITS), a new technology that would enable multi-system operators to directly receive hundreds of satellite television channels, R. N. Prabhakar, its Member (Technical), said here on Friday.

Addressing a meeting of consumer advocacy groups, Mr. Prabhakar said that the TRAI would also issue licences to MSOs and cable operators to regulate the unorganised sector. Licensing, he said, would make a significant contribution to regulate the industry and all its details, from subscriber base of each cable operator to service and entertainment tax, would become transparent. Its advisor, M. C. Chaube, said, “The new technology (HITS) will ensure addressability across the country at one go.” This feature would help the subscribers choose the number of pay channels they wished to subscribe for and they needed to pay only for those select channels. Though the number of TV channels had touched 350 over the years, the multi-system operator/cable operators were able to receive only around 100 channels with their limited infrastructure. “HITS is on the lines of direct to home (DTH) technology. Individual companies will be able to beam the signals of as many channels as the multi-system operator or the cable operator can download,” he said. This would help the MSOs and the operators in a big way as they could get many TV signals without having to install too many dish antennae. Stating that there was a national policy to digitalise the cable network system by 2010, he said HITS along with digital network would enable the subscribers to opt for their favourite pay channels and pay accordingly.

Source : http://www.hindu.com/2008/08/11/stories/...010300.htm