HDTV/3D TV News
The India Digital Networks Summit, now in its third year, was held in New Delhi on 17 October.
The platform is supported by both the Ministry of Information & Broadcasting and the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India, for the discussion of regulation, TV channel proliferation and fragmentation, CAS, DTH, broadband, investment, and expansion strategies.
At the summit, industry leaders debated the future of digital in India’s next phase of media development. Even as digital cable is seeing slow growth, IPTV is still facing tough challenges and private telecom operators have been slow to implement operations.
It was pointed out that, for IPTV to take off, local loop unbundling has to happen. The technology works on copper, and it is the state-owned BSNL and MTNL who have to open up the local loop for the private players.
Speaking at the session 'Delivering Digital’s cutting edge,' Hathway Cable & Datacom CEO K Jayaraman said the unbundling of channels by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) for non-CAS areas would not be a big catalyst to drive voluntary digitalisation.
He added that digitalisation needs investment and there is capital scarcity. Vendors have to also support cable networks with long-term payment cycles, like has happened in the telecom sector.
The regulator was requested to offer clarity and the technology needs to be tested on wireless.
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