I&B Ministry
Digicable Network among MSOs denied permanent licence, three new MSOs get licence this month
NEW DELHI: While 115 multisystem operators (MSOs) have been granted permanent licence as on 3 September, Digicable Network and Kal Cables are among the prominent MSOs whose licences have been cancelled following refusal of security clearance by the Home Ministry.
However, the Madras High Court has quashed the cancellation of provisional licence of Kal Cables on the ground that the Information and Broadcasting Ministry had not issued any show-cause notice, before cancelling the permit. The court also said that the MSO should be given another chance to respond. The Kalanidhi Maran owned Kal Cables had opposed the 20 August order, saying that it is just a MSO and not a channel. And if the I&B Ministry had issued a notice, it would have cleared the doubts.
The MSO was given a permanent licence to operate in Chennai in June 2012, while a provisional licence was given to operate in DAS notified areas in phase II cities in March 2013.
The licence of Digicable Network India was cancelled on 3 September because of denial of security clearance by the Home Ministry. The MSO had applied on 11 May 2012 for DAS notified area of NCT of Delhi, Municipal Council of Greater Mumbai and Kolkata in phase-I and on 28 January and 6 March last year for 38 cities of phase II.
Siddhi Digital Services of Sholapur was also not given a licence and its ‘case closed as Company is no longer interested in registration.’
The application of Silverline Entertainment of Allahabad for operation in DAS notified areas of Agra, Allahabad, Ghaziabad, Kanpur, Lucknow, Meerut and Varanasi was also cancelled early this month following denial of security clearance by the Home Ministry.
Earlier, MSOs Godfather Communication of Punjab and Intermedia Cable Communication had also got stay orders issued by the Punjab High Court and Delhi High Court respectively on cancellation of their licences.
The MSOs which got permanent licences early this month were Koduri Satyanarayana, Sri Sai Star TV Services for the Khammam district of Telengana; Abhilash Communications of Adilabad for notified areas of phase – II and phase – III cities pan India and JPR channel of Mumbai for Mumbai (phase – I) and phase – II areas in the state of Maharashtra and Gujarat.
I&B Ministry
Prasar Bharati sets EPG standards for DD Free Dish platform
New specs define 7-day guide, LCN mapping, and device compatibility.
MUMBAI: Your TV guide just got a backstage pass structured, scheduled, and far more in sync. Prasar Bharati has released detailed technical specifications for Electronic Programme Guide (EPG) services on DD Free Dish, laying down a standardised framework for how channels and programme information are organised and delivered. At the core of the update is a defined EPG data structure, covering genre-based categorisation, scheduling formats, and Logical Channel Numbering (LCN). The aim is simple: make navigation less guesswork and more guided experience across the platform’s over 40 million households.
The specifications also introduce a seven-day programme guide window for each channel, alongside clear rules for channel grouping and LCN mapping effectively deciding not just what you watch, but how easily you find it.
On the technical front, the document outlines requirements for Program Specific Information (PSI) and Service Information (SI), including descriptor usage across tables such as PAT, BAT and NIT. It further details service lists and network linkage parameters, giving OEMs and developers a clearer blueprint for integration.
Importantly, the framework is designed to work seamlessly with television sets equipped with in-built satellite tuners, enabling users to access DD Free Dish directly without additional hardware, an incremental but meaningful step towards simplifying access.
The platform will continue to operate on GSAT-15 transponders, using MPEG-4 compression and DVB-S2 transmission standards, ensuring continuity even as the interface evolves.
While largely technical, the move signals a broader push towards standardisation and user-friendly discovery in India’s free-to-air ecosystem because sometimes, the real upgrade isn’t what’s on screen, but how easily you get there.
