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The
clause of interoperability says that STBs
for DTH should be interoperable between
all DTH service providers, so that subscribers
can change from one to another without changing
their STBs.
Hence,
the grouse of the existing players is that
if people choose to migrate from the new
players - who will give their feed on the
MPEG4 format- to the older players, it would
not be possible, as the latter use the MPEG2
format.
The
two companies have, thus, reportedly asked
the government to fund them for makeover
to the MPEG4 format for their combined subscription
base of five million, because all these
STBs have to be changed.
"The
question does not arise for government funding,"
a senior Trai official told indiantelevision.com.
"I
am not even sure whether the companies have
actually written to the government. But
they have certainly not written to Trai."
The
official said that these new players did
not put in any such objection with Trai
when the consultation process for formulating
the regulation was on.
He
added, "Even if they have written to
the government, there is no substance in
the demand, as the regulation clearly says
that existing subscribers will continue
to get the feed on MPEG2 format, and only
new subscribers will have to be given on
MPEG4."
He
said that even for the existing players,
the same suppliers who are giving the MPEG2
STBs shall give the higher version, and
TataSky and dishtv can give their new connections
from there.
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