U.S. Trade Office Calls India's Foreign DTH Policy "Stringent and Burdensome"

[Satellite TODAY Insider 04-28-11] U.S. trade representatives are encouraging the Indian government to change its satellite policies to allow foreign countries to sell capacity to India’s growing DTH market, according to a U.S. Department of Trade report issued April 27.
    India currently gives exclusive direct DTH satellite capacity selling rights to the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO). Foreign operators are required to sell capacity to ISRO, which then resells the same to the DTH customers and maintains ownership of the customers. In the report, U.S. trade officials said the policy exhibits a "lack of transparency in the rules governing the provisions of satellite capacity," and accused the Indian government of limiting international competition.
    While the report expressed a desire to respect India’s signal security requirements, the Department of Trade called India’s encryption requirements "stringent and burdensome," causing apprehension in the market.
    "Concerning India’s data encryption requirements for telecom equipment, the United States Trade Office is asking Indian regulatory authorities to devise a policy which does not deviate from commonly accepted or best practices," the report said. "U.S. trade representatives will continue to engage India to seek ways to ensure U.S. telecommunication companies can effectively protect information, while also respecting security concerns of the Indian government."
    The report also alluded to a similar situation in China, adding that the Department of Trade "will encourage these countries to consider changes to their respective frameworks."
    The U.S. Trade Office may find support for its stance in India’s private sector. In March, Indian satellite operators criticized India’s government for instituting taxation policies that show "preferential tax treatment of cable operators over satellite," according to a CASBAA statement issued March 24 from the organization’s forum in New Delhi.
    The complaints focused on India’s 35 percent DTH tax, which were characterized as an "unheard-of burden for an entertainment product that is an everyday experience for hundreds of millions of Indians," CASBAA said.
    The satellite operators also voiced dismay regarding restrictions for retail prices that do not apply to cable operators. "Time and again we heard that companies are hard pressed to make money in the content industry thanks to regulatory constraints, under-declaration, high carriage fees and rising costs. India’s backward-looking government approach is one of the biggest problems facing the regional industry," CASBAA CEO Simon Twiston Davies said in a statement.

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U.S. Trade Office Calls India’s Foreign DTH Policy “Stringent and Burdensome”

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