Ravi budhwar
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The Cabinet Committee of Economic Affairs recent approval of the Information & Broadcasting ministry's proposal to digitise metros by 2012 is a favourable development for direct-to-home (DTH) and cable companies. At present, there are 85 analogue subscribers, while the DTH industry has over 30 million subscribers.
The only question that remains is whether the industry will be able to meet the deadline. It is expected that the new rollout schedule in Phase I that covers metros must be completed by March 2012. Phase-II includes digitising cities with a population of over one million by March 31, 2013, and the rest of the country by March 31, 2015. This appears to be a difficult task.
There are two obstacles. One, huge capital expenditure is required for complete digitisation. At present, the number of households in India with television sets is estimated at 105 million, of which around 85 million have cable services, and only 30 million have digital services. Hence, to digitise the entire industry at least 75-80 million set-top boxes would be needed in the coming three years. It is estimated that this would involve capital expenditure of Rs 20,000-40,000 crore.
http://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com/2011-10-24/news/30316436_1_digitisation-dth-msos
The only question that remains is whether the industry will be able to meet the deadline. It is expected that the new rollout schedule in Phase I that covers metros must be completed by March 2012. Phase-II includes digitising cities with a population of over one million by March 31, 2013, and the rest of the country by March 31, 2015. This appears to be a difficult task.
There are two obstacles. One, huge capital expenditure is required for complete digitisation. At present, the number of households in India with television sets is estimated at 105 million, of which around 85 million have cable services, and only 30 million have digital services. Hence, to digitise the entire industry at least 75-80 million set-top boxes would be needed in the coming three years. It is estimated that this would involve capital expenditure of Rs 20,000-40,000 crore.
http://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com/2011-10-24/news/30316436_1_digitisation-dth-msos
