An expert group has suggested to the government that to make India really self-reliant and a hub for STB manufacture, various sops like advance capital and world-class testing centres for R&D should be made available.

The group held discussions as part of Indian government’s series of webinars (Udyog Manthan) focused on promoting quality and productivity in the Indian industry. The media experts here focused on STBs and ways to up manufacturing in India.

The expert group admitted that most companies in India were small and didn’t have enough working capital to support operations round the year.

So it was suggested to the government that organisations, especially, small and medium ones or MSMEs should be encouraged to move to platforms like Trade Receivables, e-Discounting System (TReDS), where advance capital can be acquired through discounting of invoices.

In this various industry associations and Ministries of MSME and Finance could step up to provide guidance and adequate support.

Another challenge being faced by the hardware segment of the media sector was lack of investment in R&D for continuous improvement in the quality of set-top boxes. Most companies that do manufacture STBs in India were small and needed R&D
support.

As a possible remedy, it was suggested by the expert group that world class testing facilities were the need of the hour and for this, initiatives like Common Facility Centres (CFCs) should be encouraged. Again industry associations and the Ministry of MSME needed to play a role.

Some of the experts who participated in the discussions on STBs included Rajiv Khattar, media consultant and former President, South Asia, ABS; Amiet Kharbanda, MD, MyBox Technologies (which incidentally is a Hero group company making high-end STBs); Ravi Kogje, Senior Business Unit Manager, Jabil,Circuit India; James C. Chen of National Tsing Hua University; Gyan Chand Jain of Modern Communications & Broadcast Pvt Ltd; Ankan Biswas of Philips and representing the Indian government was Asha Nangia of Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology.

A set top box (STB) is a device that is connected to a television set at the subscribers’ premises and allows a subscriber to view encrypted pay channels of their choice on payment. The set top box at the time of its introduction had a major disruptive effect on the existing model of cable operators, driven by provision of cable television programming.

A set top box is necessary to television viewers who wish to use their current analogue television sets to receive digital broadcasts. DTV set top boxes are used for satellite, cable and terrestrial DTV services. They are especially important for terrestrial services because they guarantee viewers free television broadcasting. These days hybrid STBs even give access to streaming platforms too.