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INDORE: With less than a week for the March 31 deadline of Phase-II for digitization of the country's television systems, cable operators in the state are working on a war-footing to meet it.
The present scenario, however, indicates that it does not seem possible to cover all subscribers' in the given period. Once the deadline was over, the DTH operators, with bigger pockets will be free to install connections at all doorsteps, where digitization could not be carried out by the cable operators. Meanwhile, DTH operators are watching things very closely as they are hopeful of expanding their base by entering into the cable operators' bastion from April. Moreover, the domestic manufacturers of set top boxes (STB) are also betting high on better business as the customs duty on imported STBs has been increased by 10%, from earlier existing mark of 5% in the next fiscal's Union Budget. A member of the cable operators association said, "We are distributing imported STBs, priced at Rs 700 for us, at Rs 1,000 to our subscribers. Earlier, the imported STBs used to cost us merely Rs 500."
DTH operators have already started campaigns to woo cable subscribers with promise of giving better services.
In Indore alone, there are six lakh cable subscribers with merely two lakh having STBs. On the other hand, there are nearly 50,000 DTH subscribers in the city. Secretary of Indore Cable TV Operators' Association, Arun Dubey said, "We are facing acute shortage of STBs. Though we have already placed orders for the same, there was no supply." In Bhopal, there are nearly four lakh cable subscribers and merely 1, 30,000 have been covered with STBs. At the most, the cable operators in the city will be able to cover 2 lakh subscribers only by March 31.
Talking to ToI, Sunil Saraswat, general secretary, Madhya Pradesh cable operators association said, "We are trying our best to meet the deadline. However, it may not be possible for us to cover our entire consumer base in the programme."
Chief executive officer (Madhya Pradesh & Chhattisgarh) Bharti Airtel, Rajnish Kaul said, "Today, DTH is graduating from just an entertainment medium to an infotainment one loaded with value added services and an enhanced TV viewing experience with superior quality picture and sound, driving increasing number of customers to choose the new experience. The ongoing digitization drive is expected to propel this trend."
http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2013-03-27/indore/38069193_1_cable-operators-digitization-cable-subscribers
The present scenario, however, indicates that it does not seem possible to cover all subscribers' in the given period. Once the deadline was over, the DTH operators, with bigger pockets will be free to install connections at all doorsteps, where digitization could not be carried out by the cable operators. Meanwhile, DTH operators are watching things very closely as they are hopeful of expanding their base by entering into the cable operators' bastion from April. Moreover, the domestic manufacturers of set top boxes (STB) are also betting high on better business as the customs duty on imported STBs has been increased by 10%, from earlier existing mark of 5% in the next fiscal's Union Budget. A member of the cable operators association said, "We are distributing imported STBs, priced at Rs 700 for us, at Rs 1,000 to our subscribers. Earlier, the imported STBs used to cost us merely Rs 500."
DTH operators have already started campaigns to woo cable subscribers with promise of giving better services.
In Indore alone, there are six lakh cable subscribers with merely two lakh having STBs. On the other hand, there are nearly 50,000 DTH subscribers in the city. Secretary of Indore Cable TV Operators' Association, Arun Dubey said, "We are facing acute shortage of STBs. Though we have already placed orders for the same, there was no supply." In Bhopal, there are nearly four lakh cable subscribers and merely 1, 30,000 have been covered with STBs. At the most, the cable operators in the city will be able to cover 2 lakh subscribers only by March 31.
Talking to ToI, Sunil Saraswat, general secretary, Madhya Pradesh cable operators association said, "We are trying our best to meet the deadline. However, it may not be possible for us to cover our entire consumer base in the programme."
Chief executive officer (Madhya Pradesh & Chhattisgarh) Bharti Airtel, Rajnish Kaul said, "Today, DTH is graduating from just an entertainment medium to an infotainment one loaded with value added services and an enhanced TV viewing experience with superior quality picture and sound, driving increasing number of customers to choose the new experience. The ongoing digitization drive is expected to propel this trend."
http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2013-03-27/indore/38069193_1_cable-operators-digitization-cable-subscribers
