Digitisation sets in; no extension, says Govt

The Information & Broadcasting (I&B) Ministry has finally stuck to its revised deadline of October 31, 2012 unlike last time for digitization of television in the four metros – Mumbai, New Delhi, Kolkata and Chennai. The earlier deadline of June had been extended after cable operators sought time to install STBs (which have to be imported). The Government this time refused to budge from its revised deadline, even as pockets of resistance raised their pitch for extending the deadline and different petitions in two High Courts of Mumbai and Chennai gave different verdicts,

Sure some pockets of the metros are yet to be digitized but as the Mumbai HC pointed out in its judgment, “A certain degree of inconvenience is inevitable in the enforcement of any deadline and whenever there is a change to a new regime. The Government has taken this decision with a view to provide quality service to consumers. Individual business hardships must give way to public interest.” The Bombay High Court  refused to grant more time to cable network providers in the city to switch to digital addressable system (DAS) which for now is a shot in the arm for the Government. “In June, you knew you have time till October. What have you done till today?” the judges in Mumbai HC said, and added that petitioners' conduct did not merit any relief. However it asked the Union government to consider giving some relief to viewers during Diwali.

However TV viewers in Chennai who have not made the change, got some relief with the Madras High Court granting extension of the deadline till November 5 for the process of digitisation of TV signals.

Union Information and Broadcasting Secretary Uday Kumar Varma confirmed that analogue signals in Delhi, Kolkata and Mumbai would be switched off on Thursday but Chennai would not be in the list because of the court order. As the deadline ended, television sets without set top boxes (STBs) in hundreds of households across Delhi, Mumbai and Kolkata went blank on Wednesday. People watching various programmes faced a TV blackout when the clock struck 12. With multi-system operators in the metros barring Chennai set to switch off analogue TV signals to comply with the Union Government order, close to two million households in Delhi, Mumbai and Kolkata will go without TV programmes from November 1, say industry sources. However, in some areas of Kolkata, the television sets without STBs were found to be working.

Information and Broadcasting Ministry’s data for all the four metros combined showed digitisation of cable TV households including Direct To Home (DTH) connections up to 94 per cent. The overall percentage of Cable TV digitisation in four metros went up to 91 per cent till October 30. The ministry has decided to intensify its SMS campaign to reach out to the remaining few people who are yet to install set top boxes.

As per ministry figures, Delhi has achieved a 97 percent digitisation (including DTH connections). In the national capital where an estimated 23.06 lakhs cable TV subscribers exist, 21.97 lakhs had got STB installed. Kolkata has achieved cable TV digitisation upto 85 percent (including DTH) approximately as 16.66 lakhs STBs had already been installed by 20.04 lakhs cable TV subscribers in the city, the government data said. In Chennai which has 4.14 lakhs cable TV subscribers, the number of STBs estimated was estimated to be around 2.57 lakhs. With DTH included, Chennai has achieved digitisation upto 86 percent, as per I&B estimates. The government data said Mumbai was already digitised with the 15.21 lakhs cable TV homes showing over 21.14 lakhs installation of STBs.

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