Digitisation: Govt firm on deadline amid opposition from Mamata, Sena

[tech_genie]

It is history in making, as for the first time analogue cable signals will cease in the four metros of New Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata and Chennai on November 1 to give way to digital addressable systems (DAS)... or is it?

While the government is firm and sticking to its deadline for the first phase of digitisation, there are voices of opposition from a few political parties and West Bengal and Tamil Nadu state governments apart from local cable operators (LCOs). West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has already threatened to launch a countrywide agitation, if cable TV services go for a blackout. “We cannot accept this stand by the Centre. When set top boxes are not in hand, analogue system should be allowed to continue, Centre has no right to blackout television,” Banerjee told the media.

However, Information and Broadcasting Ministry expects that the digitisation would be completed by the time. As per Uday Kumar Varma, secretary, Information & Broadcasting Ministry, about 45,000-50,000 units of set top boxes (STBs) are sold each day, most of which is in Delhi. Last Friday, he pointed out that more than 81,000 STBs were seeded.
Ministry claims that digitisation in Mumbai is almost 100 per cent, while Delhi is at 88 per cent and Kolkata is at 82 per cent.

However, according to industry sources, small operators are facing huge problems with boxes, and they have already sought extension of the deadline. For instance, a LCO in Mumbai (Paresh Thakkar of Bhavani Rajesh Cable) has already filed a petition before the Bombay High Court seeking extension of the deadline. The Court will hear the case on October 31, which incidentally is also he deadline for the first phase.

Roop Sharma, president of Cable Operators Federation of India (COFI) says that the figures that Ministry is floating are exaggerated. “As per reports from research firm Media Partner Asia and trade website MXM India, cable digitisation is much less than what the ministry is projecting. We are not saying that digitisation is bad, but the technology should not be forced upon the people.”

But the multi-system-operators (MSOs) and direct-to-home (DTH) players are gung ho and are expecting that the deadline will not be extended this time. “There is no indication from the government of any extension in the deadline this time, which is a good sign. There will always be people in market who will wait till the end. So you will see the real pace once the blackout happens. In the last 2-3 weeks, we have been seeing significant jump in the seeding of STBs. From DEN alone over 20,000 STBs are being seeded per day,” MG Azhar, COO of DEN Networks said. DEN is expecting to remain the largest MSO in Delhi and also to hold 15 per cent market in Mumbai post digitisation.

The DTH players are also upbeat about the opportunity lying ahead and are betting big on the first phase. “There is no reason to doubt that the deadline will not be met. Both Cable and DTH companies have enough boxes to meet the requirements and the campaign released by Ministry is actually very effective. In the last 3-4 weeks, we have seen unprecedented demand for the STBs. Yes, there is inertia among a few customers but once the signals get blacked out, it will take care of that,” added Harit Nagpal, MD and CEO of Tata Sky.

Everyone is expecting a huge rush for boxes once the signals get blacked out on November 1. "We have seen about 10 times jump in STB sales during the past few weeks, in Delhi and about 7-8 times jump in Mumbai," said Salil Kapoor, COO, Dish TV. "We won't be able to feed all at one go. It would take a few days. To be prepared for the same, we are getting all our installers from neighbouring states to be stationed in the four metro cities, so that the rush could be tackled in a structured way," he added.

Meanwhile, industry observers believe that Mumbai and Delhi are still manageable, but shifting to DAS will be much more complex in the other two metros of Chennai and Kolkata.

"I believe Mumbai and Delhi will be easily done but real picture of Kolkata and Chennai will be know on November 1. The next 15 days most of the MSOs will be busy in getting the packages right for the customers. It will take 1-2 weeks for customers also to get settle," Ashok Mansukhani, president of the MSO Alliance and director of IndusInd Media and Communications Ltd said.

In Chennai, for instance, industry sources say that television sets will go black in around 32 lakh households on November 1, if the deadline is honoured. There are 40 lakh cable connections in the city. However, as per the Ministry the Cable homes are showing 61% digitisation and together with DTH, the percentage of digitisation goes up to 85 per cent.

On October 30, a day before the deadline, the cable operators are confused what would be the impact of this. Whether majority of their customers would left with blank television screens or could have a breath of relief with some free to air channels, they have no idea, says P Sakilan, president of Thamizhaga Cable TV Operator's General Welfare Association (TCOA).

“Chennai has around 40 lakh connections and so far only 2.5 lakh set top boxes were supplied by the MSOs here. We think at least 50 per cent of the connections could be switched to digital mode by December,” says Sakilan.

He added that the DTH companies, with huge offers are in the process of expanding customer base, while the last mile cable operators are left with no choice but to wait and watch for the supply of STBs to take place. The cable operators in various regions has united to form small companies to offer set top boxes to customers and act as MSOs, he said. At least four such small companies have been formed in Chennai so far, he added

Sources attributed two reasons for not taking up the digitisation seriously by LCOs. They think that date will be extended for digitisation further and two Arasu Cable Corporation, the state-run MSO, will take over the control in the city. While as on Monday evening, 11 companies have got licence for digitisation, this does not include Arasu Cable.

In Kolkata, the case is slightly more curious as West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee feels that the central government should abstain from making STBs mandatory, which according to her, will add to the burden on people. She reiterated her stand today.

According to industry estimates about 8 lakh cable TV customers are in for a blackout in Kolkata.

Out of the total 23 lakh total cable connections in the city under 9 MSOs and over 5,000 operators, till now only 15 lakh have got STBs installed.

“As far as our company is concerned, we still have about 1.5 lakh more set top boxes lying with our operators for installation, while we have availed it to 7 lakh houses till now,” says Suresh Sethia, director of Siti Cable, one of the largest MSOs in the city. While all the 9 MSOs got digitalisation licences in the city, availability of set top boxes is a concern for all of them.

Earlier this month, the Mamata Banerjee-led government had asked the Centre to extend this deadline as MSOs complained that they were yet to receive about 40 to 50 per cent of set top boxes. However, operators today said that while all the single television homes are covered, multiple-TV homes are still pending.

Members of Cable and Welfare Association of West Bengal had a meeting with the West Bengal Urban Development minister Firhad Hakim regarding this. After the meeting, the state government has requested MSOs to continue analogue services, as a blackout may affect common man.

Source: Digitisation: Govt firm on deadline amid opposition

 

[tech_genie]

RE: Digitisation: Govt firm on deadline amid opposition

Mamata Banerjee threatens agitation on TV digitisation issue

KOLKATA: West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee today threatened to launch an agitation if television transmission was blacked out after the October 31 deadline for digitisation and accused the Centre of trying to adopt a path of "confrontation" with the states on the issue.

"When set top boxes are not in hand, analog system should be allowed to continue and the Centre has no right to blackout television. We can't simply accept this stand of the Centre," Banerjee told a press conference here.

Regretting she had not received a reply to her communication to the Centre in June seeking extension of the deadline, the chief minister said, "If necessary, we will launch a statewide movement and later spread it to the whole of India."

The Trinamool Congress supremo said that the Centre appeared to be interested in confrontation with the states on the digitisation issue.

Source: Mamata Banerjee threatens agitation on TV digitisation issue - The Economic Times

Graphic Source: Mamata signals cable war

 

[tech_genie]

Extend cable TV digitisation deadline, says Sena

The Shiv Sena Monday demanded an extension of the deadline from Oct 31 to January 2013 for digitisation of cable TV networks in the four metros as acquiring set-top boxes was causing a burden on the poor in the festival season.

Party executive president Uddhav Thackeray said that in Mumbai around one-third of the households were yet to buy set-top boxes (STBs) which cost around Rs.1,000-1,200 per piece.

Source: Extend cable TV digitisation deadline, says Sena

 

[tech_genie]

Chief minister Mamata Banerjee has vowed not to let analogue television signals go off air in Calcutta on November 1, backing the subscriber reluctant to pay more for set-top box technology and the cable operator happy to dilly-dally past another digitisation deadline.

“There are questions both about the availability of set-top boxes and their affordability. People are not getting boxes…. Besides, how can the Centre expect poor people to spend between Rs 1,200 and Rs 1,500 on set-top boxes in this festive season? If the Centre is so keen on digitisation, let them pay for the set-top boxes. If people can’t watch TV from November 1, there will be protests on the streets,” Mamata declared during a news conference at Writers’ on Tuesday afternoon.

Less than two hours later, she was holding a meeting with the multi-system operators (MSOs) to warn them about a law-and-order breakdown if they switched off analogue signals. “She told us the city was not ready to accept the switch (to digital signals) yet. She said switching off analogue signals could result in law-and-order problems,” said a representative of the cable industry.

According to an unofficial estimate, barely 16 lakh out of the 42 lakh cable homes in the city — many of them not in the official count thanks to under-declaration by the cableman — have been digitised. So around 26 lakh television screens would go blank if analogue signals are switched off on November 1.

“We are in a fix. The chief minister wants us to continue beaming analogue signals while the information and broadcasting ministry has made it mandatory for us to switch to digital signals from November 1,” the industry official said.

Mamata chose to speak to party colleague C.M. Jatua, who had been minister of state for information and broadcasting until Trinamul’s pullout from the UPA 2, for “clarifications” on the cable mess. “Aami C.M. Jatua-ke phone korechhilam. Uni bollen tar kichhu jana nei. Tar kachhe eita aana hoyni (I had called C.M. Jatua. He said he didn’t know anything. He wasn’t kept informed about this).”

But Lok Sabha records show that Jatua had specified October 31 as the last date for digitisation of cable signals in a written reply to a question on the subject on August 21. “Regular reviews are being held.... Interaction with the state governments is continuing to seek their cooperation.”

The I&B ministry seems determined to enforce this deadline. A senior ministry official told Metro: “We have been asked to stay the course. There is no question of another extension.”

The only hope for those pushing for more time is the change at the top. New minister Manish Tewari might like to revisit the subject and understand the complexities involved if some chief ministers — other than Mamata — express formal objections, sources said.

With time running out, the leading MSOs said they would speak to senior ministry officials “as soon as possible”.

While Mamata insists she is speaking for lakhs of cable homes, the flip side is that her stance could benefit unscrupulous cable operators more. A further delay in digitisation would allow them to continue earning from undeclared connections, denying broadcasters their legitimate share of the spoils.

The MSOs, of course, dare not ignore Didi’s diktat. What might save them is a technical loophole in partial digitisation. “There are some MSOs who operate beyond the metropolitan area. These MSOs will continue to receive analogue signals, which they can illegally re-route to the city network,” a source said.

The MSOs can employ another strategy if the broadcasters release only digital signals to the metros. “There is a device called the modulator that can be used to convert digital signals into analogue. Every cable operator has at least two or three of these,” a cable operator said.

The use of a modulator would be restricted, though. Only one channel can be converted by each modulator, which means the operator can at best beam the free-to-air channels and two or three pay channels.

Source: The Telegraph, Kolkata

 

[tech_genie]

Set-top boxes cannot be forced on Kolkatans: Mamata

The deadline is approaching. On November 1, all households in the city with a television will have to install set top boxes (STBs) — those who don’t, may just find themselves with only a blank screen to look at.

Cable television operators in the city however, have said that there is a dire shortage of the devices. The operators have decided to approach the Madras High Court, to ask for a stay on the order.

On Tuesday evening, several cable TV operator groups held a demonstration in Chepauk.

“We hope the High Court gives us a stay as this will be beneficial for consumers,” said John Kennedy, president of the Chennai Metro Cable TV Operators Association.

Under The Cable Television Networks (Regulation) Amendment Bill, 2011, complete digitisation of cable TV in the country has been made mandatory by the end of 2014. The move is to be undertaken in four phases.

Under the first phase, it is compulsory for consumers in Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata and Chennai to install STBs in order to receive encrypted digital signals from broadcasters through cable operators.

In Chennai, there are over 1 lakh boxes active at present, and there is a demand for about 45 lakh more. “There are three major players who supply STBs here, but none of them have stock of the devices. Even if they place orders now, it will take a couple of weeks for them to be shipped from China,” said Mr. Kennedy.

P. S. Elavarasu, president of the Tamil Nadu Cable TV Urimayalargal Sangam, said that it was unfair on the part of the government to thrust STBs on the public.

The move towards digitisation would take a toll on consumers, he said, adding, “A large section of people are not aware of the need to install the boxes. Besides, cable TV is the only source of entertainment for many low-income families. They cannot afford to buy STBs.”

V. Rama Rao, secretary of the Lakshmi Nagar Civic Welfare Association said residents in his locality had been asking their local cable TV operators for STBs.

“But they said wholesale operators have not imported the boxes in bulk over the last six months or so. Last month, out local operator contacted us and asked us to pick up the STBs after paying Rs. 1, 350 towards activation charges,” he said.

Mr. Rao added that the cost of an STB does not exceed Rs. 1,000. “The other metro city operators are supplying the devices for Rs. 700. But our operator said it was not possible as there wasn’t adequate stock of the boxes,” he said.

Mr. Rao also said that the conditional access system (CAS), which is functioning at present, was better than the digital addressable system as under the former, STBs are not forced on consumers.

The CAS rate is Rs. 5.35 per pay channel per month, and under CAS, all major Tamil pay channels are offered free in Chennai. “We hope that the Tamil Nadu government will be making an effort to extend the deadline for digitisation,” he said.

Source: The Hindu : Cities / Chennai : On deadline eve, shortage of set top boxes hits city