TDSAT directed Bengaluru MSO Kable First a la carte rates to IndiaCast

The Telecom Disputes Settlement and Appellate Tribunal (TDSAT) on 22nd February has ordered Bengaluru based MSO Kable First India to subscribe only those  channels of IndiaCast UTV that it wants to carry rather than all the channels of the content aggregator. The Tribunal also directed MSOs to pay a monthly subscription fee on a la carte rates beginning from 1st March 2014.

For the December 2013–28 February 2014 period, the tribunal directed Kable First to pay for seven channels at the reference interconnect offer (RIO) rates and as per the subscriber base given by it in its application. 

The payment will have to be made in two equal instalments—the first within two weeks and the other in two weeks thereafter. 

The TDSAT bench comprising chairperson Justice Aftab Alam and member Kuldip Singh said in its order that payment and the dues that the parties may owe to each other in terms of the old agreement shall abide by the final outcome of the petition. 

The bench also ruled that IndiaCast UTV must not insist on carriage of its channels and will not be liable to pay for the monthly marketing fees to the MSO. 

The order came following carriage applications filed by Kable First India as well as IndiaCast UTV. 

Background to the case 

Kable First had entered into a one-year deal with IndiaCast UTV that was expected to run from 16 April 2013 to 31 March 2014. Under the agreement, Kable First was expected to pay IndiaCast UTV on per-subscriber basis on a minimum guaranteed subscriber base. 

However, Kable First through a letter on 21 August 2013 requested IndiaCast UTV to re-negotiate the agreement since it had lost subscribers due to the emergence of five more new MSOs. Kable First had also stated that the digital addressable system (DAS) terms of offer had expired on 30 May 2013. 

Kable First had also stated that it would like to keep its subscription cost to a maximum of Rs. 650,000 per month instead of the existing Rs. 1 million. 

In case this subscription amount was not acceptable, Kable First requested IndiaCast UTV to forward the RIO agreement which the petitioner proposed to sign with immediate effect. 

However, IndiaCast UTV through its 23 September 2013 letter denied that the term of offer had expired. The content aggregator also asked the MSO to clear all outstanding dues and abide by terms of the MoU till the expiry of the same. 

IndiaCast UTV issued a disconnection notice when the talks between the two parties failed to yield any results. Aggrieved by this notice and the aggregator’s rejection of signing a fresh agreement, Kable First approached the tribunal on 24 August 2013. 

Following the petition filed by Kable First, the tribunal had made interim arrangement under which the IndiaCast UTV was directed to continue providing signals to Kable First subject to payment of Rs. 3.5 million within two weeks. 

The MSO had also filed an undertaking before the tribunal that they will continue to carry all the channels of the respondent at the frequency and packages as per the terms of offer. 

Not content with the interim arrangement, Kable First filed a miscellaneous application seeking a review, modification and clarification which was disposed of and Kable First was directed to negotiate with IndiaCast UTV to terminate the existing interconnect agreement and replace it by a fresh agreement based on RIO terms.

Source: http://cablequest.org/news/digitization-news/item/4325-tdsat-directed-bengaluru-mso-kable-first-a-la-carte-rates-to-indiacast.html
Source: http://cablequest.org/news/digitization-news/item/4325-tdsat-directed-bengaluru-mso-kable-first-a-la-carte-rates-to-indiacast.html