WHILE the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting is aggressively pushing for digitisation of cable television in the four metros by the October-31 deadline, local cable operators (LCOs) are struggling to meet the requirements for the process.
That the government is rushing through the process of digitisation is evident from its revoking in recent months the licences of cable operators for not providing accurate information about the seeding of set-top boxes, which are essential for digitisation. The Ministry revoked the registration of two multi-system operators (MSOs) in Delhi, Home Cable Network and Swami Cable Network, for non-submission of data on the implementation of the Digital Addressable System (DAS).
Said Roop Sharma, president of the Cable Operators Federation of India: It is wrong to put the blame on the operators when the larger problem is that of the availability of set-top boxes. Why is digitisation being rushed in this manner?
Figures released by the Ministry on September 17 show that the percentage achievement of digitisation in Mumbai, Kolkata, Delhi and Chennai is 95, 67, 53 and 49 respectively.
The Ministry claimed that the total percentage of digitisation in the four metros is 68. There are 103.76 lakh households in the four metros, and installing set-top boxes in the remaining houses by October 31 will be a difficult task.
Vikki Choudhry, director of Home Cable Network Private Limited, said: Were trying to copy the U.S. and the U.K. While these countries worked towards achieving digitisation gradually, we are targeting for 100 per cent digitisation in one leap.
Sagnik DuttaCOMMents
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