Major MSOs in India represent 52.33 million subscribers

NEW DELHI — The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has today released its recommendations on “Entry level Net-worth requirement of Multi System Operators (MSOs) in Cable TV Services”. A Multi System Operator (MSO) is an authorized service provider, providing cable TV services to its subscribers. The Rule 11(3) of Cable Television Network Rules, 1994 prescribes the criteria of the applicant for grant of MSO registration.

After careful consideration the Authority has recommended that,’ … there is no necessity for fixation of a minimum entry level net worth for MSO registration. As at present, any individual, company, Corporate firm or LLP that fulfils provisions of the Cable TV Rules may be granted MSO registration.

The full text of the recommendations includes an analysis of the pay TV market in India.

The eco-system of Distribution Platform Owners with Direct-To-Home (DTH) players, HITS Operators, IPTV Players and MSOs is quite exhaustive. Different players are operating across the country making the choice of TV service provider available to the consumers. The present active subscriber base of major DPOs and the areas of their presence is as per table below:

Table 1. Number of Subscribers of Major MSOs as on 1st April 2019

Table 2. – DTH Operators – Subscribers as on 1st April 2019 (Pan India)