HITS Guidelines modified for sharing infrastructure

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The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (MIB) has modified the guidelines of HITS (Head-end In The Sky), which is considered a game changer in the Television distribution business. In the place of the earlier guidelines dated 26th November, 2009, fresh order related to sharing of Infrastructure by HITs operator have been issued on 6th November 2020.
The new guidelines say that “Wherever technically feasible, the HITS operator may share the platform infrastructure on voluntary basis, in flexible ways, for distribution of TV channels provided that the signals of the HITS platform are distributed to subscribers through Cable operator only and the encryption of signals, addressability and liabilities are not compromised.”
The HITS operator willing to share its transport stream with an MSO should ensure that the MSO has a valid written interconnection agreement with the concerned broadcaster for distribution of Pay TV channels to the subscribers. Moreover, the sharing of infrastructure is subject to clearance by MIB including security clearance, NOCC, WPC, and the satellite clearance from the Department of Space.
The adherence and compliance to all the provisions of the rules and guidelines issued by MIB and NOCC and WPC, DoT for grant of licence to the HITS operator will be the responsibility of the both, the existing operator and the new applicant proposing to share the infrastructure, respectively to the extent as required / applicable individually.
It is a key pillar of growth: NXT Digital
The NTO has brought in transparency in pricing, which has encouraged multi-system operators (MSOs) to partner with NXT Digital’s HITS platform. Earlier, MSOs were wary of infrastructure sharing due to lack of transparency. NXT Digital, which is the only HITS service provider in the country, has onboarded three independent MSOs who will use the company’s HITS platform to service their cable TV customers. NXT Digital’s infra sharing service allows MSOs to provide services using their existing infrastructure.
Earlier competitors were scared to work with one another because there was a lack of transparency. But now, there is complete transparency in pricing. “Now our own competitors are happy to ride on our platform to continue providing services to their customers ” said NXT Digital CEO Vynsley Fernandes.
He added that MSOs across the country are looking to reduce their operating expenses and stay relevant in the new digital era. Or they are looking to exit the business due to increased regulatory compliance. “Prior to NTO 1.0, the biggest cost was content. Now that content cost has become a pass-through the biggest cost is connectivity. They can reduce that cost by riding on NXT Digital HITS platform,” he noted.
As of now, about 7 crore customers are served by independent and regional MSOs who don’t have the same financial wherewithal as the national MSOs like Hathway, DEN, Siti or NXT Digital. Some of the benefits of partnering with NXT Digital’s HITS platform is that the MSO does not have to worry about fibre connectivity to market, investing in ground connection, and technology quality.

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