Jayalalithaa Slams Centre For Delay In DAS License To Arasu Cable

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J. Jayalalithaa has slammed the Centre for delaying the grant of Digital Addressable System (DAS) license to State-run Aarsu Cable TV Corporation.

According to the first phase of digitisation, all the four metros were suppose to shift to digital television signals from analogue signals by October 31. While New Delhi and Mumbai have managed to implement DAS, Kolkata is expected to go digital by December-end.

The CM said that Central Government has ordered that metros such as Chennai should migrate to telecasting TV Channels in digital mode before the end of December.

“The deliberate non-issuance of DAS license to the State Government-owned Tamil Nadu Aarsu Cable TV Corporation is only to facilitate the business interests of a particular family which forms part of the ruling coalition at the Centre,” she said in her speech at the NDC meet here on Thursday, adding that Arasu catered to the poor and middle class at nominal costs.

The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting has already sought views from telecom and broadcasting regulator, Telecom Regulatory Authority of India, on whether Central and State Governments should be allowed to be involved in broadcasting and distribution activities such as cable. It has also asked TRAI to give its recommendations on measures that can be taken to prevent monopolistic operations by Multi System Operators and local cable operators.

Jayalalithaa said that the “vindictive and discriminative act” of the Centre was highly condemnable and was yet another example of “subverting the interests of the common people and dispensation’s perpetual pandering to allies to ensure the survival of the Central Government.”

Source: http://cablequest.org/news/digitization-news/item/1032-jayalalithaa-slams-centre-for-delay-in-das-license-to-arasu-cable.htmlSource: http://cablequest.org/news/digitization-news/item/1032-jayalalithaa-slams-centre-for-delay-in-das-license-to-arasu-cable.html