MIB announced another 7 areas and 1 UT for DAS Phase III

The Ministry of Information & Broadcasting (MIB) today came out with updated list of urban areas which will be covered in Phase III of digital addressable system (DAS) namely Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Jammu & Kashmir, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Manipur and Telangana, as well as one Union Territory Daman & Diu. On 16^th October, 16 states were already announced for upgradation and they were Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Gujarat, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Jharkhand, Mizoram, Nagaland, Odisha, Rajasthan, Punjab, Tripura, Uttarakahd, Uttar Pradesh, Andaman and Nicobar, and Puducherry. Phases I and ll of cable digitisation have been completed' Phase III of digitisation which will cover all the remaining urban areas in the country is scheduled for completion by 31st December 2015. Rural areas would be covered in phase IV which is to be completed by 31st December 2016.

In The announcement, MIB stated that: “To receive cable TV services in urban areas after 31st Dec 2015, it is essential that: Multi System operators and Cable operators carry only digital encrypted signals and every cable subscriber has a set top box. Public must be aware that they require a set top box before the cutoff date”.

In this connection kind attention is drawn to the provision under Rule 12 of the cable Television Networks Rules 1994 which states that, "Every Broadcaster, Multi-system operator and cable operator shall create public awareness among, and provide information to, the subscribers in the notified areas from a period at least thirty days prior to the date such areas are notified, either through advertisements in the print and electronic media or through such other means including leaflets, printing on the reverse of the receipts, personal visits, group meetings with subscribers or consumer groups, cable service and website, containing salient features of the Digital Addressable Cable System”.

MIB also included that since the cutoff date of 31st Dec 2015 for phase III of digitisation of cable TV network in urban areas is very near, it is presumed that broadcasters, MSOs and LCOs have already initiated public awareness campaign. Along with this, data on number of TV households across districts/ urban areas in DAS Phase III was also mentioned.