State government DTH service to be introduced
Posted on: 14/May/2019 11:40:17 AM
The Chennai Tamil Nadu Cable TV Corporation has planned to start the DTH (Direct To Home) services shortly.
A lot of problems have been encountered in the existing mode of cable TV services and a lot of complaints are made by the customers.
Further, apart from the problems, there are issues related to the monthly charges as well!
The connections up till now had been given to the Tamil Nadu public by the Tamil Nadu Arasu TV Corporation. However, the LCOs (Licenced Cable Operators) encounter some revenue constraints as the pricing control has gone to the hands of broadcasters with a clear demarcation of revenue possibilities, which are transparently available in public domain.
Further, instead of the Network Capacity Fees of Rs. 130 (NCF) by TRAI, TACTV has fixed the charges at Rs. 120 only. This causes huge losses to the cable TV operators. Further, the private MSOs are luring LCOs by offering additional discounts and incentives to rope in new subscribers. Thus, many LCOs get tempted and they dump Arasu and partner with MSO extending better revenue possibilities.
One more factor to note is that the lack of the initiative from Arasu to tap affluent subs who wish to watch HD channels and add-on services like VoD and Hybrid Boxes for smart TVs is not only dampening the revenues possibilities of LCOs but also end up losing them to DTH players.
All the above negative factors have caused a huge fall in the number of subscribers. In order to arrest this above-mentioned factors, Arasu Cable TV is planning to take B2C route by launching DTH service to bypass the LCOs and reach the consumers directly and lure them with cheaper plans.
Industry View
On this Arasu TACTV DTH, industry observers opined that, going DTH needs a huge set of manpower and technology to service the subscriber’s demands right from installation to recharge. Currently, Arasu is riding on the back of LCOs just by creating the head end infrastructures.
However, TACTV needs to operate like a corporation to compete with private operators, which is impossible for a state government entity to envision.
Industry sources reveal that TACTV DTH plans are in consultation level and it will take shape in coming days depending upon feedbacks from various corners. Then, it has to apply for a license, like the way it struggled for MSO license.
