anilsk01
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President Pratibha Patil giving its approval to ordinance of digitization of cable television on October 25, 2011, has lifted up the spirits of the broadcasters, cable operators, multi-system operators and consumers. The ordinance mandates complete digitization in the four metros of Delhi, Kolkata, Mumbai and Chennai by March 31, 2012.
The cities with more than one million populations like Pune, Ahmedabad and Bangalore will have to mandatorily shift to digitization by March 31, 2013. The deadline for complete digitization in urban areas is September 31, 2014 while the entire country is expected to achieve digitization by December 31, 2014.
According to the amendment made in the section 9 of the Cable Television Networks (Regulation) Amendment Ordinance, 1995, the I&B ministry will make digital addressable system mandatory. The measure will empower consumers to an increased number of channels and high quality viewing. There will be no prime band after introduction of digitization. Consumers will be able to access internet as well as telephone through the digital cable, officials said. Viewers will be able to access digital services through a set top box. To provide relief to the consumers, STB costs would also come down with discounts, special promotion drives and market demand.
According to the section 4B (3) of the Cable Television Networks (Regulation) Amendment Ordinance, 1995, the facility of right of way under this section for laying underground cables, and erecting posts, shall be available to all cable operators subject to the obligation of reinstatement or restoration of the property or payment of reinstatement or restoration charges in respect thereof at the option of the public authority.
The cable operators will have to pay for the pay channels, however, raising the subscription money to earn more subscription revenue from consumers has been completely ruled out. It has not been made clear whether the pay channels will be offered to cable operators on A la carte basis or in a bouquet. The ordinance doesn’t touch upon the issues related to tariff, interconnect agreement between stakeholders, revenue sharing arrangement. Hopefully, TRAI will deal with them, at the earliest, for the whole process to succeed.
The cities with more than one million populations like Pune, Ahmedabad and Bangalore will have to mandatorily shift to digitization by March 31, 2013. The deadline for complete digitization in urban areas is September 31, 2014 while the entire country is expected to achieve digitization by December 31, 2014.
According to the amendment made in the section 9 of the Cable Television Networks (Regulation) Amendment Ordinance, 1995, the I&B ministry will make digital addressable system mandatory. The measure will empower consumers to an increased number of channels and high quality viewing. There will be no prime band after introduction of digitization. Consumers will be able to access internet as well as telephone through the digital cable, officials said. Viewers will be able to access digital services through a set top box. To provide relief to the consumers, STB costs would also come down with discounts, special promotion drives and market demand.
According to the section 4B (3) of the Cable Television Networks (Regulation) Amendment Ordinance, 1995, the facility of right of way under this section for laying underground cables, and erecting posts, shall be available to all cable operators subject to the obligation of reinstatement or restoration of the property or payment of reinstatement or restoration charges in respect thereof at the option of the public authority.
The cable operators will have to pay for the pay channels, however, raising the subscription money to earn more subscription revenue from consumers has been completely ruled out. It has not been made clear whether the pay channels will be offered to cable operators on A la carte basis or in a bouquet. The ordinance doesn’t touch upon the issues related to tariff, interconnect agreement between stakeholders, revenue sharing arrangement. Hopefully, TRAI will deal with them, at the earliest, for the whole process to succeed.
