Reliance Complains over DTH Set-top Boxes

In its attempt to gain an edge over its competitors, Reliance Big TV has accused existing DTH operators - Tata Sky and Dish TV - of not complying with the latest set-top box technology and trying to block out from bringing the revised norms.

For instance - if you have Tata Sky and want to switch to Dish TV or vice versa, you would have to throw away your old set-top box and get a new one. This is because the STBs provided by these operators aren't interoperable.

Reliance has complained to the I&B ministry that the current DTH operators are using an obsolete format, therefore jeopardising comusmers' interest. Tata Sky and Dish TV use MPEG-2 technology as compared to Big TV, which will use MPEG-4 format. This will offer better video quality and save over 30% transmission bandwidth allowing more channels to be telecast.

Reliance has also asked the government to revise the BIS (Bureau of Indian Standards) norms and implement TRAI's guidelines, which says that the existing subscribers need not change their STBs.

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