Confusion over DAS area mars Hyderabad’s transition to digital cable

The government’s digitisation drive in Hyderabad has been riddled with confusion with multi-system operators (MSOs) and local cable operators (LCOs) still groping in the dark over the boundary wall of the Digital Addressable System (DAS) in the city. 

If one goes by the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting’s (MIB) affidavit in the Andhra Pradesh High Court, then the jurisdiction area for DAS implementation is the areas covered under the erstwhile Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (MCH). 

Now here is the catch. The Andhra Pradesh government had in 2007 expanded the boundary of HMC by merging 12 municipalities and eight gram panchayats which led to the creation of what is now known as Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC). 

In Phase I, the government has taken the municipal corporation limit as the area for DAS implementation. However, the MIB’s decision to restrict the area of DAS implementation to the erstwhile HMC limits has thrown a spanner in the works of MSOs and LCOs. 

The old HMC areas and the new areas that were added to form GHMC criss-cross each other. The situation is such that while one lane falls under the erstwhile HMC boundary, the neighbouring lane is outside the HMC limit. 

There is a wide variation in the number of television homes, depending upon the jurisdiction area one is looking at. While the HMC has only 800,000-900,000 TV homes, the GHMC as per industry estimates has a whopping 2.5 million TV homes. 

This confusion over jurisdiction area has made life difficult for MSOs and LCOs to seed set-top boxes (STBs), switch off analogue signals, and collect customer application forms (CAFs). 

Jagdish Kuma rHathway Cable and Datacom MD and CEO Jagdish Kumar said that the confusion over jurisdiction of DAS area has jeopardised DAS implementation in Hyderabad. Incidentally, Hathway is the leading MSO in the city with a large market share. 

“The jurisdiction issue has led to a lot of confusion. It has become practically impossible to collect CAFs. We can’t even switch off STBs as one operator is in DAS area and another operator is in non-DAS area,” lamented Kumar. 

Anil-Malhotra, COO, Siti Cable agrees with Kumar. “There is a bit of confusion as the DAS area has not been clearly marked. A lot of areas are contagious. So while on one side DAS is being implemented, on the other side analogue cable is still running,” averred Malhotra. 

Hyderabad along with Visakhapatnam was part of 38 cities that were covered in Phase II of DAS, the deadline for which ended on 31 March. 

The AP HC had initially stayed DAS implementation in the two cities following a petition filed by LCOs. However, in August the HC struck down the petition and directed a four-week grace period to switch to digital cable. 

Giving the LCO perspective, cable operator Pallam Raju said: “We are not able to seed STBs as customers are asking us why they are being made to pay to buy the boxes when people in their neighbouring areas are receiving analogue transmission without having to invest in a STB.” 

Raju also informed that both analogue and digital co-exists in Hyderabad due to the confusion prevailing over jurisdiction. 

The MSOs have switched off analogue signals in HMC areas since that is the boundary defined by the MIB for DAS implementation. 

In the areas outside HMC, the analogue signals are still being transmitted. Even in the HMC area, the LCOs are indulging in piracy by transmitting analogue signals. The district administration is also finding it tough to clamp down on erring operators. 

The issue found resonance during the last week meeting between the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) and the MSOs represented by Hathway Cable and Datacom, DEN Networks, Siti Cable, IMCL and GTPL. 

In fact, TRAI Principal Advisor N Parameswaran is believed to have told the MSOs that the regulator will be lenient in Hyderabad as far as collection of CAF goes due to the confusion over the DAS area limit. 

The MSOs have petitioned the MIB and the sector regulator to look into the matter urgently and find a solution to it. Although the issue does not come under the purview of TRAI, the authority has assured the MSOs that it will try to find some workable solution.

Source: http://cablequest.org/news/digitization-news/item/3733-confusion-over-das-area-mars-hyderabad%E2%80%99s-transition-to-digital-cable.htmlSource: http://cablequest.org/news/digitization-news/item/3733-confusion-over-das-area-mars-hyderabad%E2%80%99s-transition-to-digital-cable.html