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MUMBAI: The High Court of Sikkim has granted a 12-week stay on the implementation of digital addressable system (DAS) Phase III in Sikkim and ordered the Ministry of Information & Broadcasting (MIB) to maintain status quo as on date (31 December). The matter has been listed for hearing on 28 March 2016.
The stay order was granted taking into consideration that the subscribers would be impacted for no fault of theirs and the MIB is yet to respond to the petitioner All Sikkim Cable Operators Association’s letter seeking extension of the Phase III deadline.
The All Sikkim Cable Operators Association had filed a petition seeking extension of digitisation deadline since the multi-system operators (MSOs) and local cable operators (LCOs) were finding it difficult to get funding for seeding set-top boxes (STBs) and laying optical fibres, which was becoming all the more difficult due to the state’s difficult terrain.
The petitioner also submitted that STBs were not easily available in the country due to which it was not possible to comply with the deadline.
The association said that it had written to the MIB on 26 November 2015 about the constraints faced by the MSOs and LCOs and that it had sought extension of time to complete the digitisation process. To date, the ministry has not responded to the letter.
The central government counsel submitted that ample time had been afforded to the operators for the switchover. He also contended that the ministry had set up a task force to steer the process of implementation of DAS in Phases III and IV.
The task force comprised representatives of various stakeholders including the petitioner, he said.
While objecting to the petition of stay, the government counsel sought 16 weeks’ time to file his response.
The HC handed out notices to central government counsel Karma Thinlay Namgyal and assistant government advocate Pollin Rai. It also issued notices to the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI).
Earlier, the High Court of Judicature at Hyderabad had granted a two-month stay on DAS implementation in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana. The Madras High Court had also ordered status quo until 6 January.
www.televisionpost.com/cable/sikkim-hc-grants-12-week-stay-on-das-phase-iii/
The stay order was granted taking into consideration that the subscribers would be impacted for no fault of theirs and the MIB is yet to respond to the petitioner All Sikkim Cable Operators Association’s letter seeking extension of the Phase III deadline.
The All Sikkim Cable Operators Association had filed a petition seeking extension of digitisation deadline since the multi-system operators (MSOs) and local cable operators (LCOs) were finding it difficult to get funding for seeding set-top boxes (STBs) and laying optical fibres, which was becoming all the more difficult due to the state’s difficult terrain.
The petitioner also submitted that STBs were not easily available in the country due to which it was not possible to comply with the deadline.
The association said that it had written to the MIB on 26 November 2015 about the constraints faced by the MSOs and LCOs and that it had sought extension of time to complete the digitisation process. To date, the ministry has not responded to the letter.
The central government counsel submitted that ample time had been afforded to the operators for the switchover. He also contended that the ministry had set up a task force to steer the process of implementation of DAS in Phases III and IV.
The task force comprised representatives of various stakeholders including the petitioner, he said.
While objecting to the petition of stay, the government counsel sought 16 weeks’ time to file his response.
The HC handed out notices to central government counsel Karma Thinlay Namgyal and assistant government advocate Pollin Rai. It also issued notices to the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI).
Earlier, the High Court of Judicature at Hyderabad had granted a two-month stay on DAS implementation in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana. The Madras High Court had also ordered status quo until 6 January.
www.televisionpost.com/cable/sikkim-hc-grants-12-week-stay-on-das-phase-iii/
