TV viewers may be able to switch their DTH or cable service providers without changing the set top box (STB) by the end of this year, according to regulator Trai’s Chairman R S Sharma. “Since last two years we have been trying to make STBs interoperable. Large part of problem has been resolved. There are some business challenges (which) remain… we are looking at this to happen by end of this year,” Sharma told reporters at an event on Tuesday.
He added that interoperability in a product should not come as an “after thought” but should be in place at the product planning stage itself. “Open systems are going to be the future. Entire back-end of Aadhaar has been developed on open source software except biometric de-duplication system,” Sharma said.
Sharma cited interoperability as one of the key factors behind the success of the Indian mobile phone industry where no subscriber is required to buy a new phone if he wants to change his service provider.