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Concentrate on TV content, bickering parties advised

The government, cable television operators and consumers should stop bickering about the price of the set-top descrambler box needed for new interactive digital TV services, industry leaders said in a report released at the weekend.

Instead of fighting, the parties should concentrate on improving what is delivered through the box, said the report by Hong Kong-based research firm Media Partners Asia (MPA) Ltd.

For more than a year, cable operators have been able to offer digital television -- which allows viewers to access information on the weather, travel, stocks and shares as well as to shop, e-mail and browse the Internet using an ordinary remote control.

But squabbling between the operators, local and central government and consumer groups about how much the industry can charge for the set-top boxes, digital channels and services have stopped the local digital roll-out in its tracks.

"One year on, we're unable to really get going with digital on the island," Andrew Rybicki, chief executive at set-top box manufacturer Advanced Digital Broadcasting Ltd (亞視科技) said in MPA's fortnightly report on Asia's media industries.

"The regulation's not ideal but I also think the industry is focusing on the wrong things. I mean, quite frankly, we should all be forgetting about the price of the box; we should be focusing on the content services that will be delivered to consumers' homes," he said.

"The price of the set-top box is such a small issue in comparison to bringing content to the market that consumers are willing to pay for," said David Dea, chief executive officer of number three operator Taiwan Broadband Corp (台灣寬頻).

"We provide the box free. Who keeps us in business is the customer," he said.

Less than 25,000 digital set-top boxes have been installed in Taiwan to date, or 0.4 percent of households, which falls far short of industry targets, MPA reported.

Two weeks ago, Taipei City limited the charge for set-top boxes at NT$3,500, which operators say is NT$1,500 less than the cost.

"I don't want to make money on the box, but I don't want to make a loss," Charles Wu (吳中立), chief executive officer of the largest provider, Eastern Multimedia Co (東森媒體科技), said.

The industry will have to find ways around the price cap, perhaps by finding ways to subsidize the cost of the box.

"We just have to accept the environment, survive and find a sustainable model for digital," Wu said.

Eastern originally planned to offer 30 new channels on its digital service -- BBC World and Deutsche Welle -- but with its revenue channels restricted, it may be unwilling to invest more in new programming.

The Government Information Office, which currently oversees the cable industry, caps the monthly fee operators can charge for traditional cable services at NT$600. It has also said that new digital channels may not be grouped together as packages and that the charge per channel and must be between NT$100 and NT$300 per month.
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