DTH ISSUE: OVER TO A MINISTERIAL GROUP

The BJP-led government has turned over the issue of opening up direct-to-home television broadcasts to a group of ministers consisting of information & broadcasting (I&B) minister Pramod Mahajan, defence minister George Fernandes, home minister L.K. Advani, communications minister Jagmohan and finance minister Yashwant Sinha. The Indian prime minister Atal Behari Vajpayee himself constituted the panel. The group on telecom (GoT) has been examining the issue of DTH for a couple of weeks now.

The ministerial group is expected to recommend the steps that the government should take while deciding on DTH (in favour or against) to ensure that the process is seen to be transparent and fair to all.

Some observers expect a decision on DTH to be taken in the shape of an executive order by end March around the same time that the new telecom policy is to be announced. The budget session of Parliament will commence on 22 February and conclude on 14 May. It will break for a recess between 18 March and 12 April.

The composition of the panel indicates that the government is serious about putting the DTH issue behind it once and for all. Both Mahajan and Jagmohan are known supporters and are likely to present the convergence (between telecom and broadcasting) view. The finance minister will provide inputs on the revenues the government could generate through licensing or auctioning and taxing of DTH services. Home minister Advani and defence minister Fernandes have been inducted into the group to tackle the national security angle.

The following table draws up a who's who of the DTH wannabes

POTENTIAL PLAYERS IN THE DTH SCENARIO

Player Possible partners Star TV's ISkyB The Ispat Group. Could expand to include DirecTV in India as Ispat is partnering Hughes in a basic telecom joint venture in India. Other possible partners include the Zee Network and India's largest company Reliance. The service could use a Panamsat or Asiasat platform. Modi Entertainment Loral; a memorandum of understanding is already in Place for sometime now. MIH Associations in India not very clear at this stage but it is known to be keen on India. C. Sivasankaran Has talked about an education venture involving DTH. Has options on transponder capacity on Singtel's ST-1 satellite. Claims he has the backing of an European banking group apart from non-resident Indian and American venture capitalists. GE Americom Was in conversation with the Hinduja group but alliances are not clear now Zee Network Could partner with ISkyB or as an independent or withEchostar's dish Network. A dark horse partner would be Shinawatra. Measat Flirted with state-owned broadcaster Doordarshan a couple of years ago. Doordarshan Could be the first off the ground as government could insist that anyone wanting to launch a DTH platform has to have the state-owned broadcaster as its partner. Shinawatra Has a great deal of interest but hasn't been able to find a suitable partner.