India’s DAS not delivering expected results
March 5, 2018
By Chris Forrester
The mandated conversion from analogue to digital for India’s thousands of cable operators, and the obligation to supply addressable digital decoder set-top boxes has not quite paid off for operators or content providers, according to a study published by Indiantelevision.
The study combines data from the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) and the six (but 5 operational) private DTH broadcasters, plus Doordarshan Direct’s ‘FreeDish’, who supply content to their own satellite platforms but also to the cable MSO’s and local cable operators.
The report says that new DTH subscriber numbers seem to have petered out in 2017.
The study argues that the introduction of General Sales Tax (VAT) and the problems with “demonetisation” (when Indian residents were forced to swap ‘old’ money for newly printed banknotes) have damaged new subscriber take up.