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Providence Equity Advisors India MD Biswajit
Subramanian added that one of the key issues
was foreign direct investment (FDI). "Having
an FDI cap is a political decision, so I do
not want to comment on that, but the cap should
be consistent for all industries, and today
that is lacking, with the telecom and cable
industries having different cap levels."
To
this, Shroff interjected, saying that FDI
was a real issue, but there was another
problem: Indian industry itself needs to
invest more, but that is not happening.
Shroff
also said that broadcasters need to look
for alternative business models, just as
the film industry has done in releasing
CDs and DVDs within a month or two of the
film being released, which has also somewhat
cut down piracy.
Gokarn
added here that the television market opened
up in 1990, but the first time there was
any regulation was in 1995 (Cable TV Act),
"which shows that the market is ahead
of regulatory restrictions by six to seven
years."
To
a common strain that one reason pay-TV is
not growing is that customers do not want
to pay for content, which interjector Ashok
Mansukhani said was borne out by the data
that shows how pay TV was ignored where
Cas came in and customers had a choice.
Subramanian,
however, opined that the customer does not
pay because he does not find value for the
kind of things that pay-TV shows, and said
that the present situation, where broadcasters
hold localised monopoly, should be broken
by ushering in competition.
Technology
could push the market place was another
side of the story, brought to the fore by
Martin Kaufmann of NDS, during the session
on "Content and Carriage: How We Can
Increase Customer Choice."
Talking
of switchover to MPEG-4 format and DVB S2,
Kaufmann said that it made sense for players
to do so, as the cost benefit analysis favoured
that.
Besides,
he said that value-added services (VAS)
like recording facilities on STBs, multiple
users getting multiple services and electronic
programme guides could also help customers
go for a digitalised environment.
One
of the strongest voices favouring the regulator
was that of Ortel Communications promoter
Jagi Mangat Panda.
"Limiting
Cas to a few cities is not the real issue,
and the regulator was doing its job, but
we as industry have failed to self-regulate,
almost pleading the regulator with folded
hands to regulate us," Panda said.
The
other major point she made, citing the example
of her own Orissa experiment of an MSO that
reaches the cable to the end user, was that
broadcasters do not want to see the benefit
of addressability.
"Giving
choice is the only way to move the industry
forward, but the broadcasters will not do
that, and most of the bundles they offer
the subscribers of Pay TV are packed with
totally useless content, which naturally
the subscriber refuses to pay for,"
Panda held.
Panda
said that there was enough content going
around, but the subscriber must be empowered
with choice to be brought to a pay-TV scenario.
INX
Media group director of finance Shankar
Narayan said that when one talks about "different"
content, one should first talk about differentiated
approach to it, adding that the industry
must look at viewer-generated content, which
has revolutionised the internet.
Digital
Entertainment Network CEO Anuj Gandhi stressed
that while his company was giving VAS, it
is important for the subscriber to be aware
of that, and held that VAS was the only
way out.
One
major point Gandhi made was that most broadcasters
think that reducing ARPUs would work the
magic it has for the mobile phone industry.
But unless ARPUs are pushed up, the low
revenues would not allow players to go for
increasing value added services.
Gandhi
also called for a changed perspective on
the value chain, saying that now one would
have to discard the old value chain vision
and go for an integrated approach. Only
if the industry increases the size of the
pie will there be more money for everyone,
he added.
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