For the first time, analogue cable signals would be done away with in the four metros of New Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata and Chennai from November 1. These would give way to digital addressable systems (DAS), or would they?
While the government is firm and sticking to its deadline for the first phase of digitisation, a few political parties, the West Bengal and Tamil Nadu state governments and local cable operators (LCOs) have voiced opposition. West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has threatened to launch a countrywide agitation if cable TV services see a blackout. “We cannot accept this stand by the Centre. When set-top boxes (STBs) are not at hand, analogue systems should be allowed to continue. The Centre has no right to black out television,” Banerjee told the media.
The information and broadcasting ministry expects digitisation would be completed on time. Uday Kumar Varma, secretary in the ministry, said 45,000-50,000 STB units were being sold every day, the majority of which was in Delhi.
The ministry claims digitisation in Mumbai is almost complete. For Delhi, it is 88 per cent and for Kolkata, it’s 82 per cent. Today, the ministry said exclusive teams had been set up for physical verification of the progress, even as it refuted charges about inaccuracies in the transition figures.
According to industry sources, small operators are facing various hurdles relating to boxes. They have already sought an extension of the deadline.
Roop Sharma, president of the Cable Operators Federation of India, says the figures the ministry is floating are exaggerated. “According to reports from research firm Media Partner Asia and trade website MXM India, cable digitisation is much less than what the ministry is projecting. We are not saying digitisation is bad, but the technology should not be forced upon people,” Sharma said.
However, MSOs and direct-to-home companies are upbeat. They expect this time, the deadline would not be extended. “There is no indication from the government of any extension in the deadline this time, which is a good sign. There would always be people who would wait till the end. So, you will see the real pace once the black-out happens. In the last two to three weeks, we have been seeing a significant jump in the seeding of STBs. DEN alone accounts for about 20,000 STBs being seeded a day,” said M G Azhar, chief operating officer of DEN Networks.
DTH players are also upbeat about the opportunity ahead and are betting big on the first phase. “There is no reason to doubt the deadline would be met. Both cable and DTH companies have enough boxes to meet the requirements and the campaign released by the ministry is actually very effective. In the last three to four weeks, we have seen unprecedented demand for STBs. Yes, there is inertia among a few customers. But once the signals are blacked out, that would be taken care of,” said Harit Nagpal, managing director and chief executive of Tata Sky.
Everyone expects a huge rush for boxes, once the signals are blocked on
November 1. “We have seen a jump of about 10 times in STB sales during the past few weeks in Delhi, and a jump of seven to eight times in Mumbai,” said Salil Kapoor, chief operating officer, Dish TV. “We won’t be able to feed all at one go. It would take a few days. To be prepared, we are getting all our installers from neighbouring states to be stationed in the four metro cities, so that the rush is tackled in a structured way,” he added.
“I believe in Mumbai and Delhi, this would be done easily, but the real picture in Kolkata and Chennai would be known on November 1,” said Ashok Mansukhani, president of the MSO Alliance and director of IndusInd Media and Communications.
Industry sources say if the deadline is honoured, in Chennai, television sets in about 3.2 million households would go black on
November 1. There are four million cable connections in the city.
However, according to the ministry, digitised cable homes stand at 61 per cent and, if DTH is included, the figure rises to 85 per cent.
Today, a day before the deadline, cable operators were confused on whether the majority of customers would left with blank television screens or they would get some free-to-air channels, said P Sakilan, president of Thamizhaga Cable TV Operator's General Welfare Association. With huge offers, DTH companies were expanding customer base, while the last-mile cable operators are left with no choice but to wait for the supply of STBs, he said. Cable operators in various regions have united to form small companies to offer STBs to customers and act as MSOs, he said.
Sources said LCOs were not taking digitisation seriously because they thought the deadline would be extended and Arasu Cable Corporation, the state-run MSO, would take control in the city.
According to industry estimates, about 8,00,000 cable TV customers stare at a blackout in Kolkata. Of the 2.3 million cable connections in the city (there are nine MSOs and about 5,000 operators), so far, only 1.5 million have installed STBs.
“As far as our company is concerned, we still have about 1,50,000 additional set top boxes lying with our operators for installation, while we have given these to 7,00,000 houses so far,” says Suresh Sethia, director of Siti Cable, one of the largest MSOs in the city. While all the nine MSOs have secured digitisation licences, availability of set top boxes is a concern for all of them.
