India’s media regulator is looking to amend existing DTH broadcasting licences to mandate that set-top boxes can be made interoperable.
The regulator is looking to provide viewers with the options to receive a rival’s broadcasts without having to invest in a new set-top box. Another option is that viewers could hand their STB’s back to the broadcaster for a cash sum which could then be used to buy a new decoder.
It now seems that one option would be that the regulator could issue new transmission licences with some of these options in place. There are also suggestions that new licences will be levied at either 8 per cent of the broadcaster’s adjusted gross revenue, or 10 per cent of fiscal gross revenues.