Cable is set to become all-India, all-digital and addressable—all at once. Wondering how? The Union cabinet has given a go-ahead to policy guidelines on Headend in the sky (HITS). Now with HITS, services such as video-on-demand and pay-per-view will be real time. That’s not all. Since HITS offers channels through a satellite with a national footprint, the customer could move to any location within India with his set-top box and operate it if his HITS operator has an on-ground affiliate in the new city.
The approval of HITs policy means a big push towards digitalization of cable in the country. Digital cable offers more channels than analogue and since HITS will be digital, it would provide the subscriber with a wider content choice, better picture quality and value-added services. Yet, a vital question is: how HITS would benefit the consumer? Though it will not affect the end consumer directly, still it will encourage more efficiency and transparency at the cable operator level. Anyhow, not many big cable operators are keen to apply for a HITS licence. This is not surprising since it would require them to create new infrastructure and incur additional costs. But how long can they remain untouched by the waves of digital revolution? With DTH and IPTV already out, it is the need of the hour for cable operators to digitalise their networks and embrace emerging technologies with open arms to sustain their customer base and counter the moves of DTH players.
Ramesh Jalan
Publisher
E-mail: rameshkumarjalan@rediffmail.com
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