The Indian government has issued an order preventing the use of dish antennas for receiving television signals in frequency bands above 4800 MHz without a license. The move effectively bans the small dishes that receive high-intensity Ku-band transmissions, used for digitally compressed direct-to-home, or DTH, broadcasts.
The move may affect News Corp.'s plans to start India's first DTH service. The service, called ISkyB, was to run on the lines of the British BSkyB, perhaps by April. The bigger dish antennas used for reception of C-band broadcasts, usually but not necessarily favored by cable TV networks, are not covered by Friday's order.
The order is unlikely to be effectively implemented, and can be challenged in court, where it may well be rejected. However, this order is broadly seen as a rushed move by the government to delay the start of DTH broadcasts, which may be even more difficult for the government to monitor and regulate than India's widespread, disorganized (and illegal until recently) cable TV networks.
According to the order, no person can establish, maintain, work, possess, or deal in any antenna, satellite decoder, or associated converter capable of receiving signals in frequency bands above 4800 MHz without a license.
Unlike the law making cable networks legal, and thereby regulating them, this order even includes end users, who are extremely unlikely to receive equipment licenses from India's Department of Telecommunications.
