CABLE DIGITISATION

The Cable TV digitisation has been made mandatory in the Metros of India which include Chennai,Mumbai,Kolkata,Delhi by 31 October 2012 in an order issued by the Information and broadcasting Ministry.Earlier the deadline was by June 30 which the cable operators couldn't reach the demand hence it was extended.The Set-Top boxes (STB) need to be Installed to view cable in digital format.The Delhi and Mumbai has achieved nearly 100% digitisation but still many face blackout. However for the Chennai residents who have not installed Set-Top Boxes (STB) there was a few relief madras High court extended the deadline till November 5.The Cable Digitasation is seen as an move to prevent switch over to the DTH in metros which is happening in daily process.[SOURCE:http://indspeaks.blogspot.in/]

SET-TOP BOX

                           


In case of Kolkata, Chief minister Mamata Banerjee said on Tuesday she would launch an agitation if TV sets were blacked out after the October 31 deadline for cable digitization.

The threat, coupled with fears of a law-and-order problem if lakhs of homes lost access to cable TV, has triggered speculation that the deadline could yet be extended. Though central data says about 82% Kolkata homes have installed set-top boxes, the number is being contested by multi-system operators (MSOs), who claim only 24 lakh (60%) homes in the Greater Kolkata region out of a total 40 lakh with access to cable TV have installed set-top boxes.

In Chennai,the rate of the Set-Top Boxes for standard definition(SD) is Rs.1000 and for High Definition (HD) it is Rs.2000 as collected by the cable operators.The Arasu cable is to be launched by the Tamil Nadu government in addition to this Digitisation.

The Central Government is Expecting to make Cable Digitalised throughout India and this is the small step to reach that goal.