| "We direct the respondent (ETV) to supply signals directly in digital mode to the petitioner (Ortel) and give it IRD boxes to decode the same. The signals will be supplied within one week from May 25," Telecom Disputes and Settlement Appellate Tribunal (TDSAT) Chairman Justice Arun Kumar said in his order. |
| Ortel, a multi-system operator which has voluntarily started rolling out Conditional Access System (CAS) in Orissa, has been fighting for receiving the feed of ETV's Telugu channel for its digital platform, and had filed the case some months ago. |
| CAS has already been notified in select areas of Delhi, Kolkata, Chennai and Mumbai, and Trai is working on the possibility of extending CAS to other parts. |
| The tribunal had in April directed ETV to share its feed with the MSO in the digital mode, which was not followed by the broadcaster. |
| Meanwhile, ETV formed a joint venture MSO "" Variety Entertainment "" in the state with broadcast major Zee and contended that it would give feed to Ortel only through the JV company. |
| Rejecting ETV's contention, the tribunal said, "Variety Entertainment is another MSO and sister concern of the respondent (ETV). This will not be accepted by us that signals are given to the petitioner through its competitor". |
| The tribunal also rejected ETV's claim that Ortel did not have the requisite equipment to receive digital signals. |
| To verify ETV's claim, TDSAT had, on May 3, directed for a joint inspection of Ortel's establishments. "It was found during the joint inspection that the petitioner has a digital head-end at Bhubaneswar and has subscriber management system at Cuttack and Khurda. |
| "We are therefore quite satisfied that petitioner is in a position to receive the digital signals either via satellite or through optical fibre or through any other means if the respondent has any," observed TDSAT while rejecting ETV's claims. |
Top Section
Explore Business Standard