Comments
The era of analog transmission in Indian cable television is on the way out with the Government introducing a Bill in the Lok Sabha to make changes in the Cable TV Networks (Regulation) Act making digitisation mandatory.
The Bill, piloted by the Information and Broadcasting Minister, Ms Ambika Sonia, seeks to digitise the cable sector in the country by December 31, 2014.
While the plan is for complete digitisation of cable television in the four metros by March 31, 2012, the next target will be cities with over 10 lakh population. By the end of 2014, the entire country is expected to have phased out analogue cable TV.
The measure will empower consumers to high quality viewing and also higher number of TV channels. There will be no prime band after the introduction of digitisation.
The bill will replace an Ordinance promulgated in October this year to amend the Act. Through the Ordinance, a clause was inserted in the Cable TV Networks (Regulation) Act to make a digital addressable system mandatory in the cable sector.
As Parliament was not in session, and immediate steps were required to notify the “sunset” dates for analog cable TV services urgently, the Ordinance was issued, explained the statement of objects and reasons in the Bill.
The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) had in August last year recommended digitisation of the cable sector and the Information and Broadcasting ministry had accepted the same.
Comments
COMMENT NOW
Comments
Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.
We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of TheHindu Businessline and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.