Dish TV against licence fee for HITS operators

DTH players Bharti, Reliance & Tata Sky favour HITS on both C and Ku band

NEW DELHI: The Bharti group wants Headend In the Sky (HITS) players to be allowed to operate on both C and Ku bands. “It should be left to discretion of the concerned HITS operator to choose between the two bands,” However, the HITS operators must not distribute TV channels directly to subscribers, the company  said in reply to a consultation paper issued by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) on HITS service.

HITS operator is one who is permitted by the Centre  to distribute multi-channel TV programmes in C band by using a satellite system to intermediaries like cable operators and not directly to subscribers. Direct-to-home (DTH) service, on the other hand, is permitted to operate on Ku band for distributing TV channels through satellite directly to subscribers. 

Bharti, set to start its DTH service in a few months, said  on FDI and cross-holding restrictions, HITS should be treated on par with DTH. DTH player, Dish TV (ASC Enterprises Ltd), said HITS should be allowed only in C band and Ku band should be only for DTH services.

It urged Trai to consider the fact that “Ku band frequencies are severely affected by the rain, snow, hail, storms, and atmospheric moisture”. Stating that the FDI level for HITS should be on par with DTH, Dish TV said  the entry fee for HITS should be Rs 10 crore and that there should be no annual licence fee. “The rationale  is  to provide the services at the minimal cost,” Dish TV said. Dish TV also wants the spectrum fee exempted for HITS service.