Star Says Operations Conform To Rules

STAR TV has clarified that "its operations are fully in conformity with the laws of the land." The clarification was made in response to information & broadcasting minister C M Ibrahim's statement last Friday that nobody would be allowed to circumvent the law governing direct-to-home (DTH) transmission.

A STAR spokesperson said the only legal requirement now in place pertained to equipment for receiving transmission in KU-band or satellite signals over 4,800 MHz. A department of telecommunication notification, issued in December last year, stipulates that a licence will be required for dealing in maintenance and possession of dish antennae, satellite decorder or associated front-end convertors for receiving signals over 4,800 MHz. Senior government officials said on Friday that the government was planning a legislation to regulate future transmission and receiption of C-band digitally compressed signals. STAR movies, ZEE Cinema, ESPN, The Discovery Channel, CNBC, and NBC are some of the channels available as C-band digitally compressed signals that can be accessed via a decoder.

 

The STAR spokesperson clarified that the reception of the SKY service, the brand name of STAR proposed DTH service, was dependent on issue of licence to dealers to deal in equipment through which KU-band transmission can be received. "Even through applications for licences from several dealers are pending with DoT, the procedure for obtaining licences and the precise licence fees have not yet been announced," he added.

All private satellite channels, including free-to-air and subscription channels offered by STAR, are at present uplinked from outside the country and are in conformity with the Cable Networks Regulation Act, 1995, the spokesperson said.

"Existing satellite television services are eing received directly at home by over 200,000 homes through dish antennae and many such dishes are visible on official residences in New Delhi's VIP areas," the STAR spokesperson said.

Reception and distribution of satellite television through cables are as per the Cable Regulation Act, which requires all cable operators to register, the spokesperson clarified.