As Cable And DTH Bills Rise Under New TRAI Framework, More Subscribers Consider Switching To Over The Top Platforms

Following the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India’s (TRAI) recent introduction of a new pricing scheme in the television broadcasting sector, cable TV and DTH subscribers are unhappy over the rise in their monthly bills and more than 80 per cent are now willing to migrate to Over the top (OTT) platforms such as Netflix, Hotstar, Amazon Prime, according to data collected by Velocity MR, reports Telecom Talk.

The data shows that 80 per cent of current cable and DTH subscribers are open to the idea of switching to an OTT service. For many customers, the amount of money they pay to their broadcasting providers has increased since they now have to choose channels on an individual basis.

The subscribers are not entirely negative in their views over the new pricing framework, with a majority of them happy with the liberty to choose what channels they prefer to watch.

MD and CEO of Velocity MR, Jasal Shah, stated, “The opinion on the new Trai rules weighs slightly more to the positive side as more than 50 per cent say that it allows them to choose the channels that they want to watch and hence the cost per channel is not an issue. But an equal majority of about 40 per cent claim that by the new regulation they get fewer channels for the same price they had paid earlier. In other words, TV subscription costs have become expensive. Close to 5 per cent are not even aware of this new regulation.”

Shah added that OTT platforms such as Netflix, Hostar, Amazon Prime might be the unintended beneficiaries of the new pricing framework, as consumers were now more willing to shift to their services seeing the increase in bills for subscriptions to traditional broadcasting.

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