[icernet] Conditional DTH licence for Murdoch's Space TV

[Arul Selvan]

The government has issued a conditional licence to Rupert Murdochs 
Space TV for its proposed foray into direct-to-home (DTH) television, 
according to media reports. The reports quoted sources as saying that 
the company will now have to deposit Rs 10 crore. It will also have to 
comply with the requisite guidelines and get the necessary clearances 
before it can launch its services in the country. Besides Space 
Television, Prasar Bharati, Data Access, ASC Enterprises Agrani and 
Essel-Shyam Communication have also announced their plans to enter the 
DTH field. Zee Telefilms Subhash Chandra has stakes in the last two. 
Agrani had received a similar DTH approval over a month ago.

While Doordarshan is planning its foray into DTH to take its channels to 
uncovered areas, Essel-Shyam and Data Access will be providing just the 
platforms. According to the reports, Space TV, which had filed its 
application for a DTH licence in April 9 2002, has mandated Merrill 
Lynch to find an Indian partner. The company will have to break its 
equity into 20 per cent FDI, 29 per cent FII, while the rest will have 
to be with an Indian partner. A special purpose vehicle will bring in an 
Indian industrial house ad ISRO to beam these signals, the reports said. 
Space TV will have to invest Rs 1,500-2,000 crore for setting up the DTH 
platform. The number of cable households in the country is expected to 
double to 80 million in the next 10 years. DTH is likely to capture 15 
per cent of this.

Source:
http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/cms.dll/html/uncomp/articleshow?msid=45952699