MSO Asianet moves Delhi HC against TDSAT direction on content deal with Star

MUMBAI: Multi system operator (MSO) Asianet Satellite Communications has moved Delhi High Court against Telecom Disputes Settlement and Appellate Tribunal’s (TDSAT) order directing the company to either sign an reference interconnect offer (RIO) or negotiated deal with broadcaster Star India within a month.

The MSO had moved TDSAT seeking parity on the price at which Star gives content to other MSOs. However, the tribunal in its interim order asked the parties to negotiate and arrive at a consensus failing which the two have to enter into RIO based agreement.

Asianet’s contention is that the RIO itself is discriminatory. Hence it moved the Delhi High Court challenging the interim order of the TDSAT.

The agreement between the parties had expired on 31 March. Star had issued a disconnection notice to the MSO. It also moved TDSAT seeking directions for the MSO to sign RIO deal. Asianet also filed a petition seeking non-discriminatory and reasonable rates in comparison to another MSO Kerala Communicators Cable Ltd (KCCL).

Justice Rajiv Shakdher issued a notice to Star and directed it to file its reply by 3 May on Asianet’s contention that it has to pay a higher rate than its competitor KCCL.

Asianet counsel senior advocate Jayant Bhushan that the MSO’s options in the light of TDSAT judgement was to either pay Rs 17.38 per subscriber per month under the agreement with Star or Rs 962 per subscriber per month under the RIO. He also noted that KCCL was paying only Rs 6 per subscriber per month.

He further pointed out that Asianet was paying Rs 2.5 crore to Star for a subscriber base of 14 lakh while KCCL was just paying Rs 1.8 crore a month for almost double the subscriber base which stands at 29 lakh subscribers.

Justice Shakdher noted that KCCL is getting a better rate since it has a larger subscriber base. While agreeing with court’s view, the MSO stated that the difference in rates cannot be as wide as in the present case.

Star, represented by senior advocate Amit Sibal and advocate Saikrishna Rajgopal, denied the allegation of discrimination. The broadcaster said that the RIO rate after discounts was Rs 30 per subscriber per month. Debunking Asianet’s claim of Rs 962 on RIO basis, the broadcaster argued that the rate has remained unchanged for the last two years.

Sibal contended that under RIO, the payout depends on the number of subscribers taking the channels.

On the difference in rates, Sibal noted that KCCL wanted signals only for 48 channels in one state Kerala while ASCL wanted signals for 62 channels in four states Kerala, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, and Telangana.