MUMBAI: In a significant move to organise the digital cable industry for the overall benefit of all stakeholders and to facilitate and further create momentum for digitisation for phase III and IV, major Indian multi system operators (MSOs) have come together under the aegis of the All India Digital Cable Federation (AIDCF).

The newly formed federation held its first meeting on 15 October 2014 in New Delhi, which  was attended by all the leading MSOs i.e. Hathway, Den Network, Siti Cable, In Cable, Digi Cable, Fastway, GTPL, ICNCL and Manthan.  With the formation of new Digital Cable Federation, the earlier forum of MSO Alliance has been dissolved.

The members have unanimously elected SITI Cable executive director and CEO VD Wadhwa as the president of the federation (AIDCF) for an initial term of two years.

The federation will work towards the overall growth of this sector and create environment for not only complete digitisation of cable TV under regulatory guidelines but also will deliver the benefits of digital services including broadband and other value added services to the people of India thus fulfilling the dream of ‘True Digital India.’

AIDCF will be the official voice for the Indian digital cable TV industry and will interact with ministries, policy makers, regulators, financial institutions and technical bodies. It will also provide a platform for discussion and exchange of ideas between these bodies and the service providers, who share a common interest in the development of digital cable TV in the country.

It will collaborate with other industry associations such as IBF, CII, FICCI, ASSOCHAM association etc., with the objective of presenting an industry consensus view to the government on crucial issues relating to the growth and development of the industry.

The federation has invited all MSOs who have minimum one lakh digital cable TV subscriber base and who are following TRAI QOS norms to become members, so that entire industry speaks in one voice and works for common objective.

The members of federation will also work out the business model for phase III & IV digitisation and create the healthy business environment for all stakeholders.