NEW DELHI: Just two days after stakeholders expressed fears that imported digital set top boxes would become more expensive with the doubling of customs duty, the Information and Broadcasting Ministry claimed that over 55 per cent digitisation target has been achieved in the 38 cities set for switching off analogue by 31 March.
According to data received by the Ministry from the direct-to-home (DTH) service providers and multi-system operators (MSOs), a total of 8.77 million set-top boxes (STBs) have already been installed in Phase II cities against the target of 16 million, registering an achievement of 55 per cent digitisation as on 22 February. Out of the total of 8.77 million, DTH connections accounted for 4.07 million while cable STBs accounted for 4.7 million.
The Ministry said it had been constantly monitoring the preparedness for the implementation of digital addressable cable TV system in the 38 cities of Phase II.
The Ministry has set up a Task Force exclusively for Phase II cities to oversee and monitor the digitisation process. A public awareness Committee has also been constituted in the Ministry for spearheading awareness campaign and all TV channels have started to run a scroll informing consumers about the deadline for cable TV digitisation.
All India Radio (AIR) has also started broadcasting of the radio jingles on its national and regional networks for creating public awareness. Several other initiatives like SMS campaign, video spots and print advertisements etc. are on the anvil. The State Governments/UTs have already nominated nodal officers in 38 cities of Phase II. The Ministry had recently conducted a workshop for them.
It is planned to organise a second workshop shortly to take stock of preparedness in Phase II cities. A regional workshop was also held recently at Bangalore to sensitize local MSOs, cable operators and other stakeholders.
The Ministry had set up a Control Room during Phase I, which has continued to function to address the queries of consumers, cable operators and others. The Control Room which also has a toll free number has been receiving a number of calls from consumers of Phase II cities.
In order to facilitate cable TV digitisation in 38 cities of Phase II, the Ministry has already issued provisional registration to 30 Independent MSOs to operate in Phase II cities. This would enable these MSOs to operate in their respective cities to provide digital cable TV services.
For the second phase, the 38 specific cities and areas which have been listed in the notification are - Bangalore, Hyderabad, Ahmedabad, Pune, Surat, Kanpur, Jaipur, Lucknow, Nagpur, Patna, Indore, Bhopal, Thane, Ludhiana, Agra, Pimpri-Chinchwad, Nashik, Vadodara, Faridabad, Ghaziabad, Rajkot, Meerut, Kalyan-Dombivali, Varanasi, Amritsar, Navi Mumbai, Aurangabad, Solapur, Allahabad, Jabalpur, Srinagar, Visakhapatnam, Ranchi, Howrah, Chandigarh, Coimbatore, Mysore and Jodhpur.
MSOs, however, believe that there will be a 3-6 months delay in Phase II digitisation. The STB shortage in the market is apparent, they point out.
Even though digital STBs have been deployed in three of the four metros that came under Phase I digitisation, MSOs have been struggling to get billing implemented which would enable subscribers to pay according to the channel packages they select. The other issues like payment to broadcasters and collecting subscription money from the local cable operators have yet to be sorted out.
