Digitisation: Bangalore And Mysore Cable Operators To Move Supreme Court

Just 28 days are left for completion of the digitisation of cable TVs in Mysore as per the Cable TV Networks (Regulation) Act. But the shifting process is nowhere near completion.

While the cable operators are opposed to the ‘hasty’ implementation process, customers are yet to come to terms with switching their television signals from analog to digital.

There are 2,30,000 to 2,50,000 households in the City, a majority of whom avail services from cable operators.

Cable operators are however unhappy about the regulations set by Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) for the digitisation process. They allege that there aren’t enough arrangements to successfully digitise the televisions in the City. They also fear that they will have to close their shops.

Patrick Raju, President of Karnataka State Cable TV Operators Association said that the members of the association would petition the Supreme Court seeking a revision in the government policy and extension of deadline till changes are made.

“TRAI’s policy is against cable operators who face a risk of running out of business if digitisation is implemented. Digitisation will result in measly revenue for cable TV operators and will become hard for them to continue operations,” he said.

Even in the Metros where the digitisation process was taken up, there were neither guidelines by TRAI nor rate cards by television channel companies to fix the monthly subscription depending on the channels prescribed.

Since these short comings were not addressed, the problem might be repeated in Karnataka too, added Raju. Suresh Kumar, member of the Mysore unit of the Association said that though cable operators were willing to provide set top boxes at an affordable rate, they were not readily available.  “Hasty implementation of digitisation will affect operators and customers alike,” he said.

Source: http://cablequest.org/news/digitization-news/item/1538-digitisation-bangalore-and-mysore-cable-operators-to-move-supreme-court.html