About Us

DEN Networks Limited (DEN) incorporated in 2007, is an

initiative driven towards changing the cable distribution landscape
in India. It promises to deliver superior services to consumers
through convergence of technologies.

The company is promoted by Sameer Manchanda, an industry

veteran with over 20-years of experience in media & channel
distribution. Raghav Bahl Promoter, Network18 Group, is a
director of the Company.

DEN has an experience team which is led by CEO, Anuj Gandhi,

Presidents S.N. Sharma, Vikas Bali and M.G. Azhar. As on
September 30, 2009, DEN employs a robust team of approximately
1,095 employees (not including STAR-DEN's employees)

The MPA Report 2009 estimates that our cable television services
reach approximately 10 million homes and that we have 300,000
digital cable television subscribers as of December 2008.
http://www.digitelly.in/App_Themes/Theme1/images/banner/careers.jpg

Careers
Digitelly offers high-calibre individuals the opportunity to build a career in one of the most challenging
and fast-moving business environments. To be a part of Team-Digitelly, one needs to be able to imbibe
and live by Digitelly values and ethical standards, and have the skills and motivation to play a major role
in Digitelly's journey to success.

At Digitelly, we consider people to be our greatest assets. Professional and self-motivated individuals in
every part of our organization are the key to achieving excellent customer service and continued
growth.

While you give your best to the organization, Digitelly takes care of your career through a well-
structured career progression program. Besides providing immense opportunities to learn and develop,
we ensure that you progress at the desired pace in your career. At Digitelly, we use competency
evaluation and performance as criteria for growth. Adequate developmental opportunities are provided
to all employees, which over a period of time enhance individual capability.

We invite you to join us for an exciting future and be a part of our mission to change the way
entertainment is delivered in India.

Know  
Cable TV
 
Marketed under the brand name Digitelly it uses digital video
compression that helps cable networks increase the variety of
programming available on their networks and using video
compression to transfer more channels to consumers. Digitelly
offers unique advantage of digital cable i.e. it has the functionality
of the set top box that has two-way communication, allowing for
the purchase of pay-per-view programming without use of a phone
line, in addition to video-on-demand services, a secure signal and
India’s first Cable Triple Play player which will lead the way for
true convergence of video, data and voice. It will also offer value
added services, gaming & internet to maximize value and will
drive content aggregation.
 
 

How it
Works?
  
When cable TV began in India, the broadcast medium was Analog
Cable. We received a single, analog composite video signal and a
separate sound signal.

Digital cable is a type of cable television distribution that uses

digital video compression. This technology helps cable networks
increase the variety of programming available on their networks,
using video compression to transfer more channels to consumers.

Plus you get best DVD quality pictures & clear sound that gives
you a theatre-like experience, high quality & international standard
services without having to buy expensive equipment. The viewing
experience will be the difference that one experiences between
B/W TV and colour TV.

The added advantage of digital cable is the functionality of the set

top box to have two-way communication, allowing for the
purchase of pay-per-view programming without use of a phone
line, in addition to video-on-demand services and a secure signal.
 

Receives
 

Subscribing to Digitelly is easy! Just get in touch with us or call

your local cable operator to experience the ultimate in digital
entertainment.

Already available in Allahabad, Bangalore, Baroda, Delhi, Gurgaon,

Kanpur, Lucknow, Nasik, Navi Mumbai, Pune and Surat Digitelly is
fast expanding to other cities of the country. To check for future
plans and packages, send us an email at
digitellycare@denonline.in.

Take a look at what you're missing!

Digitelly serves approximately 10 million subscribers, providing

services in Delhi, and selected cities of Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan,
Haryana, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Karnataka and Kerala. The
aggressive ramp-up has been achieved through a process of
consolidation of the on-ground cable TV distribution industry.
Digitelly's business strategy was to co-opt the cable operators as a
stakeholder in the business through acquiring, aggregating and
expanding the businesses of existing operators including multi-
system operators. This organic growth and acquisitions has
enabled Digitelly to distribute cable television services in
approximately 77 cities in India . Digitelly aims to further
consolidate its position and expand cable distribution services to
other major Indian cities.

Click on the icons to view list of locations

 
S. No Name of city Amount*
1 Allahabad 999
2 Baroda 999
3 Cochin 999
4 Delhi 999
5 Gurgaon 999
6 Jaipur 999
7 Kanpur 999
8 Karnataka (Bangalore) 999
9 Lucknow 999
10 Mumbai 999
11 Navi Mumbai 999
12 Nasik 999
13 Pune 999
14 Rajkot 999
15 Surat 999
     
* Amount Charged is for Activation and
Registration.

Cable television
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jump to: navigation, search

Coaxial cable is often used to transmit cable television into a residence. The term RG-59 comes from an
obsolete military book Radio Guide, the number referring to the page in the guide. [citation needed]

Cable television is a system of providing television to consumers via radio frequency signals
transmitted to televisions through fixed optical fibers or coaxial cables located on the subscribers
property, much like the over-the-air method used in traditional television broadcasting (via radio
waves) in which a television antenna is required. FM radio programming, high-speed Internet,
telephony, and similar non-television services may also be provided. The major difference is the
change of radio frequency signals used and optical connections to the subscriber property.

The abbreviation CATV is often used to mean "Cable TV". It originally stood for Community
Antenna Television, from cable television's origins in 1948: in areas where over-the-air
reception was limited by distance from transmitters or mountainous terrain, large "community
antennas" were constructed, and cable was run from them to individual homes. The origins of
cable broadcasting are even older as radio programming was distributed by cable in some
European cities as far back as 1924.

It is most commonplace in North America, Europe, Australia and East Asia, though it is present
in many other countries, mainly in South America and the Middle East. Cable TV has had little
success in Africa, as it is not cost-effective to lay cables in sparsely populated areas. So-called
"wireless cable" or microwave-based systems are used instead.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talk:Cable_television

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Jump to: navigation, search

 WikiProject Media [hide]

  Journalism portal

 This article is within the scope of WikiProject Media, a

collaborative effort to improve the coverage of Media on 
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WikiProject Television [hide]

Television portal

This article is part of WikiProject Television, an attempt to build a comprehensive and

detailed guide to television programs and related subjects on Wikipedia. If you would like
to participate, you can edit the article attached to this page, or visit the project page,
where you can join the project and/or contribute to the discussion.

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The article 'Premium TV' currently redirects here. I just created an article, PremiumTV, about the
UK company with the same name. I'm not sure whether the redirect is still appropriate, maybe it
is. I put in a disambiguation page, is that OK? === Jez === 09:16, 10 January 2007 (UTC)

Premium TV doesn't exist, so a Premium TV (disambiguation)-page doesn't make sense? Zido

20:33, 20 September 2007 (UTC)

over the airwaves where anyone (including children) can receive them."

I understand the point whoever was trying to make, but you have to get the child perfectly
aligned to pick up even the major stations :) I can't think how to reword this - please help.
Verloren

"the signals are not transmitted over the airwaves where anyone with a television set (including
children) can receive them." How's that? Darkwind 20:20 19 May 2003 (UTC)

This article is very US-centric. Surely someone out there can write a history of cable television
in Europe? 18.24.0.120 23:12, 25 Jan 2004 (UTC)

If "basic cable" redirects here, it needs to actually talk about basic cable in some way.
-Branddobbe 07:08, Apr 15, 2004 (UTC)
Contents
[hide]

 1 Cable television deployments

o 1.1 Asia & Australia
 1.1.1 Australia
 1.1.2 Philippines
 1.1.3 Mongolia
 1.1.4 Maldives
o 1.2 Latin America
 1.2.1 Panamá
 1.2.2 Dominican Republic
o 1.3 Europe
 1.3.1 Ireland
 1.3.2 United Kingdom
o 1.4 North America
 1.4.1 Canada
 1.4.2 USA
 1.4.2.1 Fee structure
 2 Other cable-based services
 3 Consumer issues
 4 See also
 5 References
 6 External links

[edit] Cable television deployments

[edit] Asia & Australia

[edit] Australia

Cable television began in the early 1990s in Australia. Several companies appeared including
FOXTEL, Galaxy TV, OPTUS TV, Selectv and Austar offering services to homes across the
major states of Australia. Services to Tasmania and the Northern Territory took longer to start,
not until the mid 2000's when the digital satellite pay television service had picked up
momentum and was beginning to be used for metropolitan installs and not just rural installs.

[edit] Philippines

“NUVUE”, the first cable television system, was set up in Baguio City spearheaded by American
expatriate Russel Swartley in 1969. Popularity of CATV started in the 1980s after the Marcos
administration. Cable giant SkyCable started in 1992. Cable providers grown, and these some
examples are Global Destiny & Cablelink, and some regional cable providers. In 2007, SkyCable
introduced the DigiBox, which provides more high quality picture and to prevent illegal
connections. SkyCable also broadcasted HD in the 37th Ryder Cup in 2008.

[edit] Mongolia

There are several cable TV providers in Mongolia. The main three are "SuperVision", "Hiimori"
and "Sansar CATV". All three cover approximately 10 national channels and 40 foreign
channels, such as CNN, BBC, and NHK. Among them "SuperVision" is known for its superior
quality and gives much more interesting channels, such as National Geographic and Discovery.
"Sansar" and "Hiimori" and other smaller companies fill their channel list with Chinese and
Indian channels.[citation needed]

[edit] Maldives

There are only two cable TV operators in the country.[citation needed] As the population of the
Maldives is separated across around 200 inhabited islands, there is a cable TV operator for nearly
every island. Media Net Pvt. Ltd. is the country's largest cable TV operator (providing only
analog service, although digital service has been announced. Media Net is a Male-based cable
TV operator that provides cable and MMDS service to five islands near Male. Media Net holds a
distribution license for 75 channels and distributes channels to nearly all the operators of the
country. In Maldives, cable TV subscribers can get most premium channels in available in Asia.

[edit] Latin America

[edit] Panamá

Panamanian company Rexa started Cable TV deployment in 1983. Rexa's successor, Cableonda,
was dominant throughout the 1990s, but as the customer base expanded, other companies entered
the market. Since 2000 several companies compete for the Panamanian market, such as CTV,
Cable Onda, Cablevision, Cable and Wireless, and others. Cable Onda is the largest. The
penetration of CableTV in Panamá is at 40%.[citation needed]

[edit] Dominican Republic

Cable television in the Dominican Republic is provided by a variety of companies. These

companies offer both English and Spanish language television, plus a range of channels in other
languages, high definition channels, pay-per-view movies and events, sports packages and
premium movie channels such as HBO, Playboy TV, Cinecanal, etc. Also, the channels are from
not only the Dominican Republic, but also the United States and Europe. In the Dominican
Republic television spectrum, there are 46 VHF, UHF, and free-to-air channels. The free of
charge channels programming consists mainly of locally produced entertainment shows, news,
and comedy shows; and foreign sit-coms, soap operas, movies, cartoons, and sports programs.

The main service provider in the Dominican Republic is Telecable from Tricom. Aster is
concentrated in Santo Domingo, but is expanding its service throughout the Dominican Republic.
There are also new companies using new technologies that are expanding quickly such as Claro
TV (IPTV), Wind Telecom (MMDS) and SKY (Satellite TV).

[edit] Europe

[edit] Ireland
Main article: Cable Television in Ireland

Cable television is the most common system for distributing multi-channel television in Ireland.
With more than 40 year of history and extensive networks of both wired and "wireless" cable,
Ireland is amongst the most cabled countries in Europe. Forty percent[1] of Irish homes received
cable television in September 2006. The figure dropped slightly in the early years of the 21st
century due to the increased popularity of satellite reception, notably Sky, but has stabilized
recently.

In the Republic of Ireland, UPC Ireland is by far the largest cable and MMDS operator, owning
all of the state's MMDS licenses and almost all of the state's cable TV operators. UPC offers
analogue and digital cable television services in cities and towns throughout the country (with
the exception of Cork, where the network is digital-only). It offers MMDS services in rural areas.
In areas previously served by NTL, the network is digital-only, while Chorus areas still have
both analogue and digital services. Other than UPC, the only other operator providing analogue
and digital cable is Casey Cablevision, which operates in Dungarvan, County Waterford. There
also exists a small number of analogue-only cable networks such as the Longford service
Crossan Cable.

[edit] United Kingdom

When the infant BBC Television service was started in 1932, Rediffusion, which had supplied
cable radio services since 1928, started providing "Pipe TV" to its customers who had difficulties
tuning into the weak TV broadcast signal[2].

Suspended during World War II, the BBC service was re-established in June 1946, and had only
one transmitter, at Alexandra Palace, which served the London area. From the end of 1949, new
transmitters were steadily opened to serve other major conurbations, and then smaller areas of
population. The areas on the fringes of the transmitter coverage provided an opportunity for
Rediffusion and other commercial companies to expand cable systems to enlarge the viewing
audience for the one BBC television channel which then existed. The first was in Gloucester in
1950[3] and the process gathered pace over the next few years, especially after a second television
channel, ITV, was launched in 1955 to compete with BBC. By the late 1970s, two and a half
million British homes received their television service via cable.[4]

By law, these cable systems were restricted to the relay of the public broadcast channels, which
meant that as the transmitter network became more comprehensive, the incentive to subscribe to
cable was reduced and they began to lose customers. In 1982, a radical liberalization of the law
on cable was proposed by the Information Technology Advisory Panel[5] , for the sake of
promoting a new generation of broadband cable systems leading to the wired society[6] After
setting up and receiving the conclusions of the Hunt Inquiry into Cable Expansion and
Broadcasting Policy, the Government decided to proceed with liberalization and two pieces of
legislation: the Cable and Broadcasting Act and the Telecommunications Act, were enacted in
1984.

The result was that cable systems were permitted to carry as many new television channels as
they liked, as well as providing a telephone service and interactive services of many kinds (as
since made familiar by the Internet). To maintain the momentum of the perceived commercial
interest in this new investment opportunity, in 1983, the Government itself granted eleven
interim franchises for new broadband systems each covering a community of up to around
100,000 homes, but the competitive franchising process was otherwise left to the new regulatory
body, the Cable Authority, which took on its powers from January 1, 1985.

The franchising process proceeded steadily, but the actual construction of new systems was slow,
as doubts about an adequate payback from the substantial investment persisted. By the end of
1990 almost 15 million homes had been included in franchised areas, but only 828,000 of these
had been passed by broadband cable and only 149,000 were actually subscribing.[7] Thereafter,
however, construction accelerated and take-up steadily improved.

The first new television channels launched for carriage on cable systems (going live in March
1984) were Sky Channel, Screensport, Music Box and TEN - the Movie Channel. Others
followed, some were merged or closed down, but the range expanded. A similar flux was seen
among the operators of cable systems: franchises were granted to a host of different companies,
but a process of consolidation saw the growth of large multiple system operators, until by the
early 2000s, virtually the whole industry was in the hands of two companies, NTL and Telewest.

In 2005, it was announced that NTL and Telewest would merge, after a period of co-operation in
the preceding few years. This merger was completed on March 3, 2006, with the company being
named ntl Incorporated. For the time being, the two brand names and services were marketed
separately. However, following NTL's acquisition of Virgin Mobile, the NTL and Telewest
services were rebranded Virgin Media on February 8, 2007, creating a single cable operator
covering more than 95% of the UK cable market.[citation needed]

There are a small number of other surviving cable television companies in the UK outside of
NTL including WightCable (Isle of Wight) and Smallworld (Ayrshire, Carlisle and Lancashire).

Cable TV faces intense competition from British Sky Broadcasting's Sky Digital satellite
television service. Most channels are carried on both platforms. However, cable often lacks
"interactive" features (e.g. text services, and extra video-screens), especially on BSkyB owned
channels, and the satellite platform lacks services requiring high degrees of two-way
communication, such as true video on demand.

However, subscription-funded digital terrestrial television proved less of a competitive threat.

The first system, ITV Digital, went into liquidation in 2002. Top Up TV later replaced it;
however, this service is shrinking[citation needed] as the DVB-T multiplex owners are finding free-to-
air broadcasting more profitable.[citation needed]
Another potential source of competition in the future will be TV over broadband internet
connections; this is known as IPTV. Some IPTV services are currently available in London,
while services operated in Hull ceased in April 2006.[citation needed] As the speed and availability of
broadband connections increase, more TV content can be delivered using protocols such as
IPTV. However, its impact on the market is yet to be measured, as is consumer attitude toward
watching TV programs on computers instead of television sets. At the end of 2006, BT (the UK's
former state owned monopoly phone company) started offering BT Vision, which combines the
digital free-to-air standard Freeview through an aerial, and on-demand IPTV, delivered over a
BT Broadband connection through the Vision set-top box (BT have chosen to deploy Microsoft's
Mediaroom platform for this.)[citation needed]

[edit] North America

The neutrality of this section is disputed. Please see the discussion on the talk page. Please do
not remove this message until the dispute is resolved. (November 2009)

[edit] Canada
Further information: Multichannel television in Canada

In 1949, Broadcast Relay Service began negotiations for the implementation of what was to be
the first large scale cable TV system in North America. The development of the system relied on
reaching agreement with Quebec Hydro-Electric Commission to utilise their existing network of
power poles supplying power to the Montreal Metro area. Initial discussions began with a
meeting with Montreal City Council on June 21 1949. After many months if negotiation
agreement was reached between Hydro Quebec and Rediffusion on February 28 1950 for an
initial 5 year period. The Rediffusion cable system was operational in 1952 and eventually
supplied 80,000 homes in Montreal Quebec. Cable television in Canada began in 1952 with
community antenna connections in Vancouver and London, Ontario; which city is first is not
clear. Initially, the systems brought American stations to viewers in Canada who had no
Canadian stations to watch; broadcast television, though begun late in 1952 in Toronto and
Montreal, did not reach a majority of cities until 1954.

In time, cable television was widely established to carry available Canadian stations as well as
import American stations, which constituted the vast majority of signals on systems (usually only
one or two Canadian stations, while some systems had duplicate or even triplicate coverage of
American networks). During the 1970s, a growing number of Canadian stations pushed
American channels off the systems, forcing several to expand beyond the original 12-channel
system configurations. At the same time, the advent of fibre-optic technology enabled companies
to extend their systems to nearby towns and villages that by themselves were not viable cable
television markets.

[edit] USA
Further information: Cable television in the United States
[edit] Fee structure
Parts of this article (those related to section) may no longer be up to date. Please update this
article to reflect recent events or newly available information, and remove this template when
finished. Please see the talk page for more information. (May 2010)

The industry strongly lobbies against federal "family tier" and "a la carte cable television" bills
which would provide consumers the option of purchasing individual channels rather than a broad
tier of programming, sometimes consisting of channels which are not desired by various
subscriber segments. These anti-consumer issues continue to garner attention from state
governments, Congress and U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Chairman Kevin
Martin.[8] What's more, the argument calling for an adjustment to the manner in which cable is
distributed was reaffirmed in January 2010 when cable subscribers throughout Connecticut, New
Jersey, and New York found themselves in the middle of a contentious battle over an increase in
subscriber fees paid to the media company Scripps Networks Interactive by cable provider
Cablevision. The parties' contract expired December 31, 2009, and as they were unable to reach a
mutual agreement beforehand regarding the amount paid for each cable subscriber, Scripps
pulled two of its television channels, HGTV and Food Network, from the Cablevision channel
lineup on January 1, 2010 at 12:01AM.[9][10][11][12]

[edit] Other cable-based services

Coaxial cables are capable of bi-directional carriage of signals as well as the transmission of
large amounts of data. Cable television signals use only a portion of the bandwidth available over
coaxial lines. This leaves plenty of space available for other digital services such as cable
internet, cable telephony and wireless services, using both unlicensed and licensed spectrum.

Broadband Internet is achieved over coaxial cable by using cable modems to convert the network
data into a type of digital signal that can be transferred over coaxial cable. One problem with
some cable systems is the older amplifiers placed along the cable routes are unidirectional thus in
order to allow for uploading of data the customer would need to use an analog telephone modem
to provide for the upstream connection. This limited the upstream speed to 31.2k and prevented
the always-on convenience broadband internet typically provides. Many large cable systems
have upgraded or are upgrading their equipment to allow for bi-directional signals, thus allowing
for greater upload speed and always-on convenience, though these upgrades are expensive.

In North America, Australia and Europe many cable operators have already introduced cable
telephone service, which operates just like existing fixed line operators. This service involves
installing a special telephone interface at the customer's premises that converts the analog signals
from the customer's in-home wiring into a digital signal, which is then sent on the local loop
(replacing the analog last mile, or POTS) to the company's switching center, where it is
connected to the PSTN. The biggest obstacle to cable telephone service is the need for nearly
100% reliable service for emergency calls. One of the standards available for digital cable
telephony, PacketCable, seems to be the most promising and able to work with the Quality of
Service demands of traditional analog POTS service. The biggest advantage to digital cable
telephone service is similar to the advantage of digital cable TV, namely that data can be
compressed, resulting in much less bandwidth used than a dedicated analog circuit-switched
service. Other advantages include better voice quality and integration to a VoIP network
providing cheap or unlimited nationwide and international calling. Note that in many cases,
digital cable telephone service is separate from cable modem service being offered by many
cable companies and does not rely on IP traffic or the Internet.

Beginning in 2004 in the United States, the traditional cable television providers and traditional
telecommunication companies increasingly compete in providing voice, video and data services
to residences. The combination of TV, telephone and Internet access is commonly called triple
play regardless of whether CATV or telcos offer it.

More recently, several US cable operators have begun offering wireless services to their
subscribers. Most notably was the September 2008 launch of Optimum Wi-Fi by Cablevision.
This service is made available, at no additional cost, to Optimum Broadband subscribers, and is
available at over 14,000 locations across Long Island, NY, parts of NJ and CT. Cablevision has
reported a double digit reduction in subscriber churn since launching Optimum Wi-Fi, even as
Verizon has rolled out FiOS, a competitive residential broadband service in the Cablevision
footprint. Other Tier 1 cable operators, including Comcast, have announced trials of a similar
service in sections of the US Northeast.

[edit] Consumer issues

Using a cable service naturally requires that access to a cable network be installed at the
customer location. Laying and maintaining this cable has costs. From the consumer's viewpoint,
having a choice of who provides this service may be deemed desirable, however from a business
viewpoint it may be undesirable as this would require multiple companies investing in laying
many generally identical cables to the same location. Altogether that could mean greater costs,
since there is more physical cable in existence. Therefore the idea of a natural monopoly may
apply, whereby in most places only one cable provider is preferable (seemingly for all
concerned). Competition in one place may therefore come in the form of terrestrial or satellite
providers. As with all situations where competition is in some way limited, there is a potential
for consumers to feel they are unfairly treated by the market. Market regulators may therefore
tend to limit such consumer concerns by broadening the consumers choice from a single
provider, for instance in expecting them to offer variously priced channel selections, improving
service other times (for instance, by making use of technological progress) and measures such as
providing free-for-all (public) TV.

[edit] See also

Digital cable
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Jump to: navigation, search

The examples and perspective in this article deal primarily with the United States and do not
represent a worldwide view of the subject. Please improve this article and discuss the issue on
the talk page.

This article needs additional citations for verification.

Please help improve this article by adding reliable references. Unsourced material may be challenged and
removed. (June 2006)

Digital cable is a generic term for any type of cable television distribution using digital video
compression or distribution. The technology was originally developed by Motorola.[1]

Contents
[hide]

 1 Background
 2 Channels
 3 Preserving Bandwidth
 4 Technical information
 5 See also
 6 References
 7 External links

[edit] Background

In 1989, General Instrument (which was later acquired by Motorola) demonstrated that it was
possible to convert an analog cable signal to digital and transmit it in a standard 6-MHz
television channel. In the 1990s cable providers began to invest heavily in new digital based
distribution systems. Increased competition and programming choices from Direct-broadcast
satellite services such as DirecTV, Dish Network, and PrimeStar caused cable providers to seek
new ways to provide more programming. Customers were increasingly interested in more
channels, pay-per-view programming, digital music services, and high speed internet services.
By 2000, most cable providers in the US were offering some form of digital services to their
customers.

Digital cable technology has allowed cable providers to compress video channels so that they
take up less frequency space and to offer various two-way communication capabilities. This has
enabled digital cable providers to offer more channels, video on demand services (without use of
a telephone line), telephone services, high speed internet services, and interactive television
services. In addition, digital cable technology allows for error correction to ensure the quality of
the received signal and uses a secure digital distribution system (i.e. a secure encrypted signal to
prevent eavesdropping and theft of service).

Most digital cable providers use QAM for video services and DOCSIS standards for data
services. Some providers have also begun to roll out video services using IPTV or Switched
video technologies.

[edit] Channels

Digital cable technology can allow many TV channels to occupy the frequency space that would
normally be occupied by a single analog cable TV channel. The number of channels placed on a
single analog frequency depends on the compression used. Many cable providers are able to fit
about 10 digital SD channels or 2 digital HD channels on a single analog channel frequency.
Some providers are able to squeeze more channels onto a single frequency with higher
compression, but often this can cause the video quality of the channel to degrade.

The addition of this capability complicates the notion of a "channel" in digital cable (as well as in
over-the-air ATSC digital broadcasts). The formal names for the two numbers that now identify
a channel are the physical channel and the subchannel.

The physical channel is a number corresponding to a specific 6MHz frequency range. See: North
American cable television frequencies.

The subchannel is a logical channel of data within the physical channel. Technically there can be
up to 1024 subchannels in a physical channel, though in practice only a few are used (since the
bandwidth must be divided among all the subchannels).

There are two ways providers try to make this easier for consumers. The first, accomplished
through PSIP, is where program and channel information is broadcast along with the video,
allowing the consumer's decoder (set-top box or display) to automatically identify the many
channels and subchannels.

The second (also accomplished through PSIP) is where, in an effort to hide subchannels entirely,
many cable companies map virtual channel numbers to underlying physical and sub-channels.
For example, a cable company might call channel 5-1 "channel 732" and channel 5-2 "channel
733". This also allows the cable company to change the frequency of a channel without changing
what the customer sees as a channel number. In such arrangements, the physical/sub-channel
numbers are called the "QAM channel", and the alternative channel designation is called the
"mapped channel", "virtual channel", or simply "channel".

In theory, a set-top box can decode the PSIP information from every channel it receives and use
that information to build the mapping between QAM channel and virtual channel. However,
cable companies do not always reliably transmit PSIP information. Alternatively, CableCards
receive the channel mapping and can communicate that to the set-top box.

[edit] Preserving Bandwidth

Digital cable has allowed for out of market television stations to be removed from the basic cable
lineup from Channels 2 through 13. They would be moved over to digital cable channels 100 and
above for bandwidth preservation. Currently, Comcast Cable outlets in New Jersey and Virginia
are adapting this in significantly viewed counties that are bordering nearby television markets.

[edit] Technical information

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challenged and removed. (October 2009)

The standard for signal transmission over digital cable television systems in the United States is
now fixed as both 64-QAM and 256-QAM (Quadrature Amplitude Modulation), which is
specified in SCTE 07, and is part of the DVB standard (but not ATSC). This method carries
38.47 Mbit/s using 256-QAM on a 6 MHz channel, which can carry nearly two full ATSC 19.39
Mbit/s transport streams. Each 6-MHz channel is typically used to carry 7–12 digital SDTV
channels (256-QAM, MPEG2 MP/ML streams of 3–5 Mbit/s). On many boxes with QAM tuners
(most notably the DVR boxes), High Definition versions of local channels and some cable
channels are available.

Digital Cable allows for the broadcast of EDTV (480p) as well as HDTV (720p, 1080i, and
eventually 1080p). By contrast, analog cable transmits programs solely in the 480i format (the
lowest television definition in use today).

The ATSC standards include a provision for 16-VSB transmission over cable at 38.4 Mbit/s, but
the encoding has not yet gained wide acceptance. Some MATV systems may carry 8-VSB and
QAM signals, mostly in apartment buildings and similar facilities that use a combination of
terrestrial antennas and cable distribution sources (such as HITS or "Headend in the Sky", a unit
of Comcast that delivers digital channels by satellite to small cable systems).

Digital cable channels typically are allocated above 552 MHz, the upper frequency of cable
channel 78. (Cable channels above channel 13 are at lower frequencies than UHF broadcast
channels with the same number, as seen in North American cable television frequencies.)
Between 552 and 750 MHz, there is space for 33 6-MHz channels (231–396 SDTV channels);
when going all the way to 864 MHz, there is space for 52 6-MHz channels (364–624 SDTV
channels).

In the U.S., digital cable systems with 750 MHz or greater activated channel capacity are
required to comply with a set of SCTE and CEA standards, and to provide CableCARDs to
customers that request them.
 How Cable TV began and spread in India

Cable TV has its roots in the late seventies. Indian television viewers
were looking for entertainment options, apart from what state-owned
broadcaster DD was offering. That came their way with the import and
manufacture of video cassette recorders permitted domestically. There
was a veritable boom in video cassette recorder sales during this period.
Enterprising individuals in apartment blocks placed a video in their
homes or their garages and started offering a cable TV service to people
who opted for it. The fare available was Hindi and English movies and
pirated western comedies, music and game shows. At this stage, cable
TV was restricted to the major metros and towns and the upper crust of
society.

The impetus for its spread came in 1990 with the advent of the Gulf war.
Ted Turner's CNN started beaming news reports of the bombing of
Kuwait by Saddam Hussein and sparked off a demand for satellite
dishes. Only the affluent could afford them. Some cable operators who
had been running their Hindi and English movie channels added dishes
and started relaying CNN into homes. This spurred demand for cable
TV, making it a lucrative business and it attracted more individuals to
the industry.

The launch of Star TV and ZeeTV further fuelled the spread of cable
TV. In the first half of 1992, almost 4,500 households were being cabled
up daily. That figure increased to 9,450 homes daily in the second half
of the year, according to a study conducted by market research firm -
Frank Small for Star TV: on how many homes could receive its service.
(If one considers that almost all Indian cable homes can receive Star TV
because it shares the same platform as Zee TV then the numbers would
be a fair representation of the total number of C&S homes at that time
because Zee TV has almost 100% penetration in cable homes.) From a
mere 412,000 urban households in January 1992, the number of cable
homes went up to 1.2 million by November 1992. The number of homes
estimated in 1993 was 3.3 million according to the Frank Small study.
This is estimated to have gone up to 7.3 million by January 1994,
according to one estimate. Frank Small once again surveyed the market
in end-1994 and the firm placed the number of cable & satellite homes at
11.8 million out of a total of 32.4 million TV owning homes.

Subsequently, no extensive research was conducted by the industry

which went by guesstimates until two readership surveys were
conducted in 1995. The two national readership surveys: the Indian
Readership Survey and the National Readership Survey pegged the
penetration of C&S at below 10 million in 1995 whereas industry
estimates placed it at least 14 million. The NRS said that 9.3 million
homes in urban India were cabled while the IRS said that the numbers
for urban and rural India were 8.4 million and 3.4 million respectively.
No further updates have been done because of the magnitude of the
research covering a population of almost 70 million TV homes today.
Nevertheless, the satellite TV industry has upped its estimate for C&S
homes to about 22 million now attributing the increase to the spread of
the cable TV networks in smaller towns, villages and untapped
developing areas on the outskirts of major metros, where cable TV is
being installed in housing at the time of construction itself.

Cable TV growth in urban India

Number of
Year
households Cabled

January 1992 412,000 *

November
1.2 million *
1992

1993 3.3 million *

January 1994 7.4 million

End-1994 11.8 million *

1995 15 million

1996 18 million

1999 22 million

*Frank Small studies; the rest are industry estimates

 .

The business has undergone a transformation too. In the beginning it

was small and driven by entrepreneurs. At one time the cable TV
operators population was estimated at a sky high 100,000. Your
neighbour's wife and brother-in-law also wanted to be a cable operator.
For the past three years, large companies have also set up their own
cable networks. Among them: InCablenet (managed by the Hinduja
group), Siticable (a joint venture between Zee TV promoter Subhash
Chandra and Rupert Murdoch's News Television), Asianet, Hathway
Cable & Datcom, Ortel Communications and RPG Netcom (a company
promoted by the RPG group). While the Hindujas claim to have invested
close to Rs 2000 million into their network building, Siticable talks of a
higher figure of close to Rs 2500 million. But the MSOs have
concentrated on the major metros only. They have yet to spread out into
the smaller towns and the interiors of India over time where cable TV
networks are still in the hands of small businessmen.

International cable networking companies such as United International

Holdings, TCI and Falcon Cable of the US, have tested the waters:
While UIH almost set up a joint venture with the RPG group which did
not fructify, TCI/Time Warner discussed possibilities with the Times of
India group which were inconclusive. Falcon Cable however, were
successful in establishing a joint venture with the Hindustan Times
publishing group in New Delhi called India Information Technologies
Ltd. An investment of nearly Rs 50 million was made to buy over a few
small cable TV networks. The company however did not take charge of
the networks, leaving them to be run by the cable operators. The joint
venture was in litigation for quite sometime and finally Falcon Cable
had to wash its hands off it. International investors and cable TV
networks are still place hope in the Indian cable TV market. United
International Holdings is in partnership with liquor group UB. Falcon
Cable and Cox Communications are meanwhile waiting for some
semblance of order in this industry before committing further resources.

The entry of the big boys in the business led to consolidation amongst
smaller operators several of whom combined their resources to set up
sophisticated headbands capable of delivering 30-50 channels similar to
the bouquet of the MSOs. And as the MSOs increased the number of
channels that they were offering, the independents have also kept pace.
Today, in cities like Mumbai, Indian viewers can hook into more than 65
channels. . Some of the major agglomerations that emerged initially
were: Seven Star and Shree Bhawani in Mumbai, Malleswaram Cable
Network and UCN in Bangalore, SkyVision in Ahmedabad. By 1999,
one of them had partnered with the fast moving Hathway Cable &
Datacom. But they all operate on the similar model: franchising of their
cable TV feed to smaller operators.

The programming that cable TV offers ranges from Hindi films to local
events like fairs, religious discourses, civic elections, regional news,
community games such as Bingo and favourite local sports. Practically,
every network has at least two cable channels -sometimes both of which
screen Hindi movies and songs. At one time they also screened pirated
or illegal versions of English movies. This ceased with the Motion
Picture Association of America (MPAA) cracking down heavily on
these cable operators. But piracy keeps cropping up on cable TV
networks the moment the pressure is eased. The larger cable TV
networks have their own branded channels too: Siticable has
SitiCinema.; InCable has CVO while Hathway has C-News.

That the programming on these cable channels is extremely popular is

evident from the audience share they manage to garner. They rank
second after DD on this parameter in all cities. As an example cable TV
accounted for close to 11.7% of share of the audience in Delhi in 1996
during prime time on Sunday evenings, and 8.4% on weekdays. The
numbers for the other cities were 8.4% and 4.6% for Chennai and
Mumbai on Sunday evenings and 6.4% for weekdays in Mumbai during
prime time. However, they cannot really attract advertising to the extent
of their viewership because of the fragmented nature of the cable
networks and there being no central body to work as a channelising
agent for the thousands of networks in a city. Cable channels attract no
more than Rs 250-300 million advertising annually, according to back-
of-the-envelope calculations by one of the large MSOs. But the potential
is enormous: some even quote the annual ad revenue potential being in
the region of some Rs 1200 million, if some efforts are made.

STATEWISE PENETRATION OF CABLE & SATELLITE TV

(1995)

Penetratio
State
n (%)

Gujarat 58

Andhra
45
Pradesh

Tamil Nadu 41

Karnataka 41
 Madhya
37
Pradesh

Punjab 34

Maharasht
33
ra

Orissa 31

Bihar 28

Harayana 27

Source: IMRB study for Sony Entertainment Television

©Copyright; Ambez Media & Market Research, 1999.

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