DTH
Pan Asian Mobile TV consortium formed
MUMBAI: SK Telecom, TOSHIBA , Glocal Media, and International Mobile Broadcasting Pte. Ltd. have announced the formation of the Pan Asian Mobile TV consortium to enable digital multimedia broadcasting for mobile operators in the region.
Trials are set to begin in early 2007 with leading mobile operators in Asia, asserts an official release.
Masashi Suenaga TOSHIBA said, “The vision will bring a new era of Broadcasting in the Asia region. People can enjoy informative, educational and entertaining live contents from all over the world anytime and anywhere with cell phone most cost effectively by adopting S-DMB system that was commercially proven in Japan and Korea.”
SK Telecom vice president J.H. Kah said, “The Pan Asian Mobile TV initiative will open a window of opportunity for the mass in the Asia Pacific region to enjoy a buffet of global contents ubiquitously through their mobile handset. This multilateral, cross-cultural initiative will exemplify the vision of a united Asia.”
Project leader Tom Navasero added, “The Pan Asian Mobile TV consortium is the region’s first enabler for a regional mobileTV service. The initiative will contribute to the public by providing mobile learning, and disaster prevention media. Pan Asian Mobile TV will be able to contribute to the mutual understanding and the unification of this region through content reciprocity.”
Glocal Media CEO Dennis Young said, “Glocal Media is very excited to be the content partner in this mobileTV consortium, we believe strongly that mobileTV is the next big thing and Asia is the place to do it. It offers us content owners a new distribution path to reach our customers and at the same time an opportunity to develop brand new forms of content that will be specific to mobileTV.”
SK Telecom is Korea based mobile communications company with more than 20 million subscribers. Toshiba deals in digital multimedia broadcasting and is the founder of MBCO (Mobile Broadcasting Company in Japan). Glocal Media is a content aggregator. International Mobile Broadcasting is the holder of Asian mobile TV licenses and spectrum.
DTH
TDSAT adjourns Tata Play–Culver Max dispute to 30 March
Row dates to May 2025 after Tata Play dropped 25 Culver Max channels
NEW DELHI: The long-running broadcast carriage dispute between Tata Play and Culver Max Entertainment was on Friday adjourned to 30 March after proceedings before the Telecom Disputes Settlement and Appellate Tribunal were disrupted by technical difficulties.
The bench, led by chairperson justice Dhirubhai Naranbhai Patel with member Sanjeev Banzal, briefly took up the matter before deferring it. The adjournment was also recorded at the petitioner’s request.
The commercial row dates back to May 2025, when Tata Play dropped 25 Culver Max channels from its direct-to-home packs, citing contractual disagreements. Culver Max alleged the move breached both the interconnection agreement and the regulatory framework laid down by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India, prompting it to approach the tribunal.
On 21 May, 2025, Culver Max issued a disconnection notice claiming unpaid subscription dues of Rs 128.42 crore for services up to 31 March, 2025. Tata Play disputed the demand, arguing that the dues were contested and that disconnection would violate regulatory norms.
In an interim order on 27 May, 2025, the tribunal stayed the proposed disconnection, subject to Tata Play depositing Rs 40 crore. The amount was paid on 3 June, ensuring continued carriage of the channels. The tribunal later restrained the broadcaster from disrupting services, recording Tata Play’s submission that channels remained available on an a la carte basis and that only bouquet composition had changed.
Culver Max subsequently sought recall of the interim relief, alleging misstatements by the DTH operator. It placed a statement of accounts before the tribunal, pegging total dues at Rs 124.87 crore, including invoices raised up to October 2025, and claimed more than Rs 63 crore remained unpaid even after adjustments.
Tata Play countered that invoices from June to September 2025 had been settled and that October invoices were not yet due under contractual timelines, characterising remaining differences as routine reconciliation issues.
The tribunal has since allowed Culver Max, formerly known as Sony Pictures Networks India, to withdraw its audit petition after placing the subscriber audit report on record, and dismissed the recall plea.
With Friday’s hearing cut short, the dispute over carriage fees, dues and bouquet structuring will now return to the tribunal on 30 March, prolonging one of the sector’s most closely watched broadcaster–DTH stand-offs.
