DishTV attempts to stamp out illegal UAE use

DishTV, India’s direct to home (DTH) entertainment service, is looking to work with UAE authorities to stop residents tuning in illegally, RapidTVNews reports.

Subhash Chandra, the chairman of Dish TV’s parent company Essel Group says he would like to clamp down with as much force as is legally allowable. “I’d like to seize this equipment. I’d like to give a message to the people… that this is illegal.”

“We would work with the [UAE] Government and administration to put some kind of legislation by which they could be stopped. We are doing that – we are working on it already.”

According to analysts, thousands of people in the Arabian Gulf receive unlicensed satellite feeds from Dish TV, costing regional broadcasters millions of dollars a year in lost revenue. Dish TV subscribers may record their home addresses as being in India but it is impossible to tell where they actually receive the satellite feed

Authorities in the Emirates have already launched several initiatives to stamp out illegal viewing of satellite TV stations.