Tata Sky, one of Indias leading Direct to Home (DTH) operators, is contemplating taking legal action against the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO), for the continued delays in providing additional transponder space. In an interview with Business Standard, CEO of Tata Sky, Harit Nagpal did not mince any words.
When asked about Tata Skys continued patience with ISRO and the options going forward, he said, The DTH policy says that between an Indian and foreign satellite, the operator should give preference to the Indian satellite. In fact, Dish TV, the first DTH operator, started with ISRO and switched to a foreign satellite within six months, ditto for Airtel in 2010. Sun Direct lost customers when INSAT 4C, the satellite it was on, lost power all of a sudden (in 2010). But we stuck to ISRO. He also added, If all else fails, I am within my rights to approach the judiciary, since ISRO is four years behind the contracted date. There is a good chance that we will have to use the legal option.
In the meantime, Tata Sky is looking at alternatives, technology-wise, to somewhat overcome the problem. He says, Meanwhile, we are migrating to MPEG4 boxes (MPEG refers to a compression technology). When we launched in 2006, MPEG4 was not available, MPEG2 was. So we are spending close to $200 million and changing all the boxes that subscribers now have, to MPEG4. This will increase capacity, in the short term, by 70 per cent. This could be a big move for Tata Sky, which will allow it to offer more channels within the existing space, allowing it to keep pace with the rivals.
Source:
Tata Sky contemplates legal action against ISRO; confirms shift to MPEG4 - LCD TVs | Plasma TV & Televisions | ThinkDigit News
When asked about Tata Skys continued patience with ISRO and the options going forward, he said, The DTH policy says that between an Indian and foreign satellite, the operator should give preference to the Indian satellite. In fact, Dish TV, the first DTH operator, started with ISRO and switched to a foreign satellite within six months, ditto for Airtel in 2010. Sun Direct lost customers when INSAT 4C, the satellite it was on, lost power all of a sudden (in 2010). But we stuck to ISRO. He also added, If all else fails, I am within my rights to approach the judiciary, since ISRO is four years behind the contracted date. There is a good chance that we will have to use the legal option.
In the meantime, Tata Sky is looking at alternatives, technology-wise, to somewhat overcome the problem. He says, Meanwhile, we are migrating to MPEG4 boxes (MPEG refers to a compression technology). When we launched in 2006, MPEG4 was not available, MPEG2 was. So we are spending close to $200 million and changing all the boxes that subscribers now have, to MPEG4. This will increase capacity, in the short term, by 70 per cent. This could be a big move for Tata Sky, which will allow it to offer more channels within the existing space, allowing it to keep pace with the rivals.
Source:
Tata Sky contemplates legal action against ISRO; confirms shift to MPEG4 - LCD TVs | Plasma TV & Televisions | ThinkDigit News
