DTH v/s OTT (The Hindu)

Mains Paper 3: Science and tech
Prelims level: DTH, OTT
Mains level: Problems faced by DTH service providers

Context:

• The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) in it’s recent report said that the average active subscriber base of DTH services has seen a sharp decline of 25 percent in this quarter coming down to 54.26 million in April to June quarter in comparison to 72.44 million in January to March this year.

Background:

• The trends coincides with the new DTH tariff regime implemented from 1st April.
• The decline in subscriber base highlights the challenges faced by DTH operators during the transition to new tariff regime.
• The rise of OTT services also seems to have impacted the DTH subscription numbers.
• A recent survey suggests that almost 55% Indians prefer OTT over DTH services and almost 87% of Indians use mobile to watch videos these days.

What do we understand by DTH?

• DTH is an acronym for ‘Direct To Home’ service.
• It is a digital satellite service that provides television viewing services directly to subscribers through satellite transmission anywhere in the country.
• The signals are digital by nature and are received directly from the satellite.
• The content and the context of DTH and OTT are completely different.
• OTT platforms are very personal whereas DTH connections are more social in nature.
• They complement each other as well like the OTT platforms suggest about the material available on DTH by advertisements.

What do we understand by OTT?

• An ‘Over The Top’ media service is any online content provider that offers streaming media as a standalone product.
• The term is commonly applied to video-ondemand platforms, but also refers to audio streaming, messaging services, or internetbased voice calling solutions.
• It needs access to the internet and smartphones, tablets, laptop/computers.

What are the problems faced by DTH service providers?

• The information about the reduction of 25% is not entirely correct because TRAI has changed the method of computation, worked out the numbers in a new and more accurate way by which some
  phantom figures have been removed and the loss of subscribers is not that huge.
• The price factor and the tariffs of OTT platforms have not really gone down to the extent of wiping out DTH or reducing the subscribers significantly.
• New tariff order has changed the bill empowering consumers to pay only for what they want to watch.
• Bundling or packages of channels makes it easy for the consumer to choose because selecting content to watch with minimal tariff is an extremely difficult exercise. It is not fully developed plan but the sector is working on it.
• It is about the customers preferences also about what and how they want to watch and on which platform. There will always be a place for the conventional broadcast tv and there will be a space for newer options like OTT platforms as well.
• TRAI has taken measures by making an app to help consumers choose channel combinations and minimise their bills.

What are the prospectus for OTT in India?

• OTT is going to be on the rise for sure.
• The ease in information collection and more importantly the trust towards the phones show that the base of OTT is going to increase further.
• It is the question of convenience where quality is improving with more young people getting involved with the OTT platforms.
• According to KPMG Report, India will have more than 500 million subscribers on all OTT platforms by 2023.

What are the regulatory aspects involved?

• OTT providers are governed by the Information Technology Act, 2000 Section 79 where the intermediate liabilities lie.
• OTT providers do not have to get involved in the inception, transmission and reception of the content which make them not liable for the content.
• Our licence services are very heavily regulated so the issue is not the regulation but reduction in the high level regulations of the Telecom service in order to empower everyone to choose their ways of consumption.
• Clear ways under the Information Technology Act are mentioned to deal with the content after it is made available to the OTT platforms.

Conclusion:

• The need for transparency on the OTT platforms is a very important, especially for an industry that touches so many people and with limited regulations on it, because it is an entertainment platform mainly and this will further provide choices to the consumers.

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Prelims Questions:

Q.1) With reference to the ‘D’ voters, consider the following statements:
1. It is a category of voters in Assam whose citizenship is doubtful or under dispute.
2. This category was introduced in 1998 at the time the Election Commission of India (ECI) was revising the state’s voter list.
3. Around 1.2 lakh ‘D’ voters did not participate in the recently concluded Lok Sabha elections.

Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
A. 1 and 2 only
B. 1 and 3 only
C. 1, 2 and 3 only
D. 3 only

Answer: B
Mains Questions:
Q.1) What are the problems faced by DTH service providers? What are the prospectus for OTT in India?