KOLKATA/NEW DELHI: Chief minister Mamata Banerjee said on Tuesday she would launch an agitation if TV sets were blacked out after the October 31 deadline for cable digitization.
The threat, coupled with fears of a law-and-order problem if lakhs of homes lost access to cable TV, has triggered speculation that the deadline could yet be extended. Though central data says about 82% Kolkata homes have installed set-top boxes, the number is being contested by multi-system operators (MSOs), who claim only 24 lakh (60%) homes in the Greater Kolkata region out of a total 40 lakh with access to cable TV have installed set-top boxes.
Mamata, however, put the number of people who have to make the digital switch at 2.5 crore. "It will spiral into a big, big issue if they try to black out TV sets of those who don't switch over to set-top boxes from the analog system. They should be given more time," the CM told reporters after urban affairs minister Farhad Hakim met chief secretary Sanjoy Mitra, home secretary Basudeb Banerjee, police commissioner R K Pachnanda, joint commissioner (HQ) Jawed Shamim, MSOs and cable operators at Writers' Buildings.
Responding to Mamata's statement, I&B ministry sources said the process of digitization was a government policy that had been adopted after due deliberation, but hinted law-and-order concerns couldn't be overlooked. "Just because there is a new minister (Manish Tewari), it doesn't mean the landscape will be unsettled. A robust campaign has been running for the last one year in anticipation of the deadline. But at the end of the day, law and order is a state subject and a state has to ensure its constitutional mandate. We will play it by ear," the source said.
Mamata said the Centre had ignored her letter in June on the issue. "Was the state government consulted before this was made mandatory in the four metros? Even if it were to be, was it ensured that there were enough set-top boxes in the market? In a festival month in Kolkata, you suddenly ask people to shell out Rs 1200-odd to buy set-top boxes. Can everyone afford this at one go? And now you threaten to scrap the licence of MSOs if they fail to comply. Some more time should be given," the CM said, threatening a statewide movement that will "later spread to the whole of India".
She also alleged there was more to the digitization process "than meets the eye". "I've been informed that only one Indian firm and two Chinese firms have been identified to supply these set-top boxes countrywide. Is this adequate?" she asked.
The I&B ministry didn't appear to be unduly anxious. According to the latest data collated by the Centre, 82% of Kolkata homes had already opted for either digital set top boxes or DTH notching the number to 85%. The corresponding figures for the other cities included Delhi where cable TV digitization has touched 92% and with DTH the percentage of digitization has gone up to 95%. For Mumbai the percentage of digitization is 100%. In Chennai the cable TV digitization has reached 62% and with DTH it goes up to 86%.
This figure is contested by MSOs operating in Kolkata who term it completely flawed and way off the mark. According to the industry estimates, there are 40 lakh cable connections in Kolkata Metropolitan Area, of which only half have been digitized. At a meeting convened in the state secretariat on Tuesday afternoon, Shamim expressed apprehension of a law and order situation if 20 lakh cable homes were blacked out from Wednesday midnight.
source:toi
The threat, coupled with fears of a law-and-order problem if lakhs of homes lost access to cable TV, has triggered speculation that the deadline could yet be extended. Though central data says about 82% Kolkata homes have installed set-top boxes, the number is being contested by multi-system operators (MSOs), who claim only 24 lakh (60%) homes in the Greater Kolkata region out of a total 40 lakh with access to cable TV have installed set-top boxes.
Mamata, however, put the number of people who have to make the digital switch at 2.5 crore. "It will spiral into a big, big issue if they try to black out TV sets of those who don't switch over to set-top boxes from the analog system. They should be given more time," the CM told reporters after urban affairs minister Farhad Hakim met chief secretary Sanjoy Mitra, home secretary Basudeb Banerjee, police commissioner R K Pachnanda, joint commissioner (HQ) Jawed Shamim, MSOs and cable operators at Writers' Buildings.
Responding to Mamata's statement, I&B ministry sources said the process of digitization was a government policy that had been adopted after due deliberation, but hinted law-and-order concerns couldn't be overlooked. "Just because there is a new minister (Manish Tewari), it doesn't mean the landscape will be unsettled. A robust campaign has been running for the last one year in anticipation of the deadline. But at the end of the day, law and order is a state subject and a state has to ensure its constitutional mandate. We will play it by ear," the source said.
Mamata said the Centre had ignored her letter in June on the issue. "Was the state government consulted before this was made mandatory in the four metros? Even if it were to be, was it ensured that there were enough set-top boxes in the market? In a festival month in Kolkata, you suddenly ask people to shell out Rs 1200-odd to buy set-top boxes. Can everyone afford this at one go? And now you threaten to scrap the licence of MSOs if they fail to comply. Some more time should be given," the CM said, threatening a statewide movement that will "later spread to the whole of India".
She also alleged there was more to the digitization process "than meets the eye". "I've been informed that only one Indian firm and two Chinese firms have been identified to supply these set-top boxes countrywide. Is this adequate?" she asked.
The I&B ministry didn't appear to be unduly anxious. According to the latest data collated by the Centre, 82% of Kolkata homes had already opted for either digital set top boxes or DTH notching the number to 85%. The corresponding figures for the other cities included Delhi where cable TV digitization has touched 92% and with DTH the percentage of digitization has gone up to 95%. For Mumbai the percentage of digitization is 100%. In Chennai the cable TV digitization has reached 62% and with DTH it goes up to 86%.
This figure is contested by MSOs operating in Kolkata who term it completely flawed and way off the mark. According to the industry estimates, there are 40 lakh cable connections in Kolkata Metropolitan Area, of which only half have been digitized. At a meeting convened in the state secretariat on Tuesday afternoon, Shamim expressed apprehension of a law and order situation if 20 lakh cable homes were blacked out from Wednesday midnight.
source:toi
