75 million STBs needed for Phase III, IV of digitisation: Government

Around 75 million set top boxes (STBs) would be needed to complete the third and fourth phase of cable TV digitisation in the country, a senior government official said on 11 July.

Speaking about the digitalization process, Supriya Sahu, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Information & Broadcasting, said a national seminar on STBs organised by industry body CII in Delhi on 11 July it was envisioned that 75 million STBs would be required for Phase 3 and Phase 4. She assured the participants that the government would look at their suggestions for tax rationalization but urged them to rise to the occasion so that this huge opportunity could be utilized as there was a very short time window.

Cable TV networks in India have been mandated to go digital by December 2014, which entails that TV signal may be received only through STBs.

The I&B ministry has already completed the second phase of digitisation, which involved digitising 1.6 crore cable TV houses in 38 cities by April 1, 2013.

The third phase of digitisation has to be implemented in all other urban areas (municipal corporations/ municipalities) except cities or towns or areas included in the Phase I and II, by September 30 this year.

The rest of the country will be covered by December 2013 under Phase IV of digitisation.

The official assured the participants that government would look at their suggestions for tax rationalisation but urged them to rise to the occasion so that this huge opportunity could be utilised.

STB manufacturing opportunity has been identified as one of the growth drivers for electronics manufacturing industry, with the expected demand for set top boxes valued around USD 12 billion globally.

Director General Foreign Trade (DGFT) Anup Pujari said that all items suggested by the IT department had been notified for an additional 2 per cent incentive and STBs have been identified as a focus product. He asked stakeholders for suggestions on third party certification that will enable and facilitate trade.

Dr Ajay Kumar, Joint Secretary, DeitY, Ministry of Communication & IT, said, the department was announcing a series of incentives for the electronics manufacturing cluster scheme and assured the participants that set top boxes was a priority area given the speed of the cable digitalization process. He mentioned that an Indian CAS can be expected in the next 12-14 months.

The seminar was attended by key officials from concerned ministries and departments, multi system operators (MSOs), DTH service providers, chipset suppliers, STB manufacturers and representatives of ecosystem industries, among others.

Source: http://cablequest.org/news/digitization-news/item/2788-75-million-stbs-needed-for-phase-iii,-iv-of-digitisation-government.htmlSource: http://cablequest.org/news/digitization-news/item/2788-75-million-stbs-needed-for-phase-iii,-iv-of-digitisation-government.html