WWIL to share carriage revenue with cable operators
This move will give a big push to cable digitisation. WWIL has also unveiled a multi-pronged strategy to engage consumers in digitisation
Wire and Wireless (India) Ltd (WWIL), as part of its commitment to timely implementation of digitisation in top metros across India, has decided to share carriage revenue with cable operators. WWIL operates under the SITI Digital Cable brand name in Delhi, Kolkata and Mumbai.
This is the first time when an MSO is offering a share in the carriage revenue to the last mile cable operator. The WWIL initiative was announced at the Delhi cable operator meet organised at the company’s Noida campus. The meet was organised to speed up the process of digitisation.
As part of its effort to engage the cable operators better, WWIL also showcased its Subscriber Management System (SMS), which is designed for cable operators to handle subscriber related transaction on their own, like activation, deactivation, billing, payment, packaging, complaints, etc. This will help cable operators to provide better services to subscribers on digital platform. The SMS system can be accessed by cable operators on mobile phones, tablets and PC/ laptops.
Meanwhile, to aid the consumer in this switchover, the company is offering set top boxes (STBs) at subsidised rates. However, in the near future, prices of STBs will go up as it will be offered on cost-to-company basis.
WWIL is aggressively seeding STBs in its three key metros markets to meet the digitisation deadline. Consumers receiving television channels in Phase-1 (metros) via analog cable networks have to switch to digital STBs by June 30, 2012, as per Government mandate for complete digitisation of cable TV networks in the country.
