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PM IST
Several Chennai households may
have to go without television on
1 November as they don’t have
the set-top boxes that will be
needed to view broadcasts after
the mandatory switch to digital
from analogue signals starting
that day.
The Union government has said
it won’t budge on the deadline
by which the change needs to
happen in Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata
and Chennai. West Bengal has
sought an extension of the
deadline and Tamil Nadu may do
the same.
With 20 days to go, the state-
run Tamil Nadu Arasu Cable TV
Corp. Ltd, multi-system
operators (MSOs) Sumangali
Cable Vision (SCV) and JAK
Network besides cable operators
are yet to supply set-top boxes
widely enough to meet the
digitization deadline of 31
October.
“It’s a big confusion,” said M.R.
Srinivasan, general secretary
of Chennai Metro Cable TV
Operators Association (CMCOA),
which says it represents 1,800
cable operators. “Cable
operators are in a limbo and do
not know what to do as the
state-run Arasu Cable hasn’t
said clearly how much the end
customer will have to pay if he
buys a set-top box from the
cable operator.”
It has said cable operators
should pay an advance of Rs.500
per box but has not clarified on
its final price, he said. Cable
operators are in a dilemma over
whether to get set-top boxes
from SCV or JAK by paying an
advance of Rs.1,000 apiece
because they don’t know if the
government will drop prices on
the Arasu set-top box later,
said Srinivasan.
Vittal Sampathkumaran,
managing director of SCV,
declined to comment. B.
Jayaraman, who heads JAK
Network, was not reachable.
Arasu Cable plans to refloat a
global tender on 12 October to
purchase set-top boxes. The
cable network had to scrap the
earlier tender for 2.5 million
set-top boxes as the lowest bid
was Rs.2,300 per piece.
“The prices quoted by
international players were
higher than the price expected
by us,” said K. Radhakrishnan,
chairman, Arasu Cable. The
estimated price for the box had
been Rs.1,200 to Rs.1,500.
“We are trying but it would be
tough to procure the set-top
boxes before the mandated
deadline,” he said.
The state-operated cable
network is getting its control
room ready to provide the
signals.
“We plan to write to the central
government in two days to
extend the deadline,” said a
senior government official, who
did not want to be named. The
West Bengal government last
week asked the central
government to extend the
digitization deadline in Kolkata
due to the Durga Puja
festivities and unavailability of
set-top boxes.
Direct-to-home (DTH)
companies may be taking
advantage of the confusion.
“I can say Chennai is no
different market to other
metros in terms of demand for
set-top boxes -- demand has
increased,” said Harit Nagpal,
managing director and CEO,
TataSky Ltd, without giving
details.
Sun Direct, the largest DTH
operator in Tamil Nadu with over
seven million subscribers, did
not respond to queries.
Chennai is a large market that’s
different from other metros as
there is greater demand for
local language channels and not
as much less for Hindi channels,
said Salil Kapoor, chief
operating officer, Dish TV India
Ltd, a DTH operator, which
roped in Tamil actor Jeeva as its
brand ambassador in August.
Dish TV’s second quarter
earnings are expected in two
weeks and it was therefore
unable to provide numbers on
the increased demand, Kapoor
said.
Meanwhile, CMCOA has written
to the information and
broadcasting ministry that the
government’s claim of 69% TV
households having set-top boxes
in Chennai is incorrect as it
takes into account only 1.1
million households with
televisions. There are at least
four million TVs in the city,
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Several Chennai households may
have to go without television on
1 November as they don’t have
the set-top boxes that will be
needed to view broadcasts after
the mandatory switch to digital
from analogue signals starting
that day.
The Union government has said
it won’t budge on the deadline
by which the change needs to
happen in Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata
and Chennai. West Bengal has
sought an extension of the
deadline and Tamil Nadu may do
the same.
With 20 days to go, the state-
run Tamil Nadu Arasu Cable TV
Corp. Ltd, multi-system
operators (MSOs) Sumangali
Cable Vision (SCV) and JAK
Network besides cable operators
are yet to supply set-top boxes
widely enough to meet the
digitization deadline of 31
October.
“It’s a big confusion,” said M.R.
Srinivasan, general secretary
of Chennai Metro Cable TV
Operators Association (CMCOA),
which says it represents 1,800
cable operators. “Cable
operators are in a limbo and do
not know what to do as the
state-run Arasu Cable hasn’t
said clearly how much the end
customer will have to pay if he
buys a set-top box from the
cable operator.”
It has said cable operators
should pay an advance of Rs.500
per box but has not clarified on
its final price, he said. Cable
operators are in a dilemma over
whether to get set-top boxes
from SCV or JAK by paying an
advance of Rs.1,000 apiece
because they don’t know if the
government will drop prices on
the Arasu set-top box later,
said Srinivasan.
Vittal Sampathkumaran,
managing director of SCV,
declined to comment. B.
Jayaraman, who heads JAK
Network, was not reachable.
Arasu Cable plans to refloat a
global tender on 12 October to
purchase set-top boxes. The
cable network had to scrap the
earlier tender for 2.5 million
set-top boxes as the lowest bid
was Rs.2,300 per piece.
“The prices quoted by
international players were
higher than the price expected
by us,” said K. Radhakrishnan,
chairman, Arasu Cable. The
estimated price for the box had
been Rs.1,200 to Rs.1,500.
“We are trying but it would be
tough to procure the set-top
boxes before the mandated
deadline,” he said.
The state-operated cable
network is getting its control
room ready to provide the
signals.
“We plan to write to the central
government in two days to
extend the deadline,” said a
senior government official, who
did not want to be named. The
West Bengal government last
week asked the central
government to extend the
digitization deadline in Kolkata
due to the Durga Puja
festivities and unavailability of
set-top boxes.
Direct-to-home (DTH)
companies may be taking
advantage of the confusion.
“I can say Chennai is no
different market to other
metros in terms of demand for
set-top boxes -- demand has
increased,” said Harit Nagpal,
managing director and CEO,
TataSky Ltd, without giving
details.
Sun Direct, the largest DTH
operator in Tamil Nadu with over
seven million subscribers, did
not respond to queries.
Chennai is a large market that’s
different from other metros as
there is greater demand for
local language channels and not
as much less for Hindi channels,
said Salil Kapoor, chief
operating officer, Dish TV India
Ltd, a DTH operator, which
roped in Tamil actor Jeeva as its
brand ambassador in August.
Dish TV’s second quarter
earnings are expected in two
weeks and it was therefore
unable to provide numbers on
the increased demand, Kapoor
said.
Meanwhile, CMCOA has written
to the information and
broadcasting ministry that the
government’s claim of 69% TV
households having set-top boxes
in Chennai is incorrect as it
takes into account only 1.1
million households with
televisions. There are at least
four million TVs in the city,
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