I&B Ministry
Over 100 additional MSOs get 10 year licences, 16 fail to get clearance
NEW DELHI: A total of 104 multi-system operators (MSOs) all over the country have been granted permanent registration for 10 years to operate the digital addressable system while the licences of 16 MSOs have been cancelled.
The MSOs in both the approved and the cancelled list had been given provisional permission earlier.
Those who have got permission include IndusInd Media and Communications, Hathway Cable & Datacom, Manthan Broadband, Den Network, Home Cable, Digicable Network, Delhi Distribution Company and Asianet Satellite Communications.
Kolkata based MSO Digicable Communications has been denied permission after the break-up of the joint venture with Mumbai based Digicable Networks, which has received permission for Greater Mumbai, National Capital Territory of Delhi and Greater Kolkata.
Digicable Network India managing director & CEO Jagjit Singh Kohli said that they would ask for a stay on MIB’s decision to cancel the licence in the court.
Other cancelled permissions include Skynet Digital Services, Jai Maa Vaishno Entertainment, Intermedia Cable Communications, Supersonic Networks and Godfather Communications.
Industry sources said that the approved list was in addition to the 140 whose names had been approved in March last year.
The Ministry website mib.nic.in has added information about the approved MSOs, listing the areas for which they have been given permission.
The website also contains the reasons in brief for the denial of permission to those which have failed to get the licences. In most cases, it is due to failure to get clearance from the Home Ministry.
The new list is the outcome of Open Houses held by the Ministry with various MSOs, while some have come as a result of court cases.
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.
