The announcement of a deadline for shutdown of analogue TV services has already spurred some small and medium analogue operators to make the switch to digital technologies.

On Friday, Chennai-based independent cable provider JAK Communications tied up with NDS Services Pay TV Technology Pvt Ltd to launch its digital pay TV.

NDS will help set up the digital system and also support JAK with maintenance.

“We are tying up with several regional small and medium analogue cable operators to help them make the switch. The news of digitisation is good for us as it will help grow the operators, which will in turn help us to grow,” said Mr Jayant Changrani, Country Head and General Manager, NDS.

Set-top boxes

NDS has three million set-top boxes on cable and around 15 million set-top boxes in the direct-to-home space. The company hopes to see its market share of 45 per cent retained going forward as a direct result of digitisation.

Most set-top boxes in the country are today imported from China and Korea. The move towards digitisation opens up possibilities for manufacturing set-top boxes in the country, according to Mr Arvind Kharabanda, Chairman, MYBOX Technologies Pvt Ltd.

“This has opened up several opportunities for us and the industry. At present, apart from Videocon, which has its own distribution, no one is making pay TV boxes. This may encourage more players to get into manufacturing,” he said. MYBOX started developing and designing the boxes last year and had a turnover of $ 8 million.

Transparency

Dish TV also welcomed the news of digitisation. “It will bring in more transparency by enabling factual reporting of subscriber bases and unlocking value for consumers. The sector will become organised now,” said Mr R.C. Venkateish, Chief Executive Officer, Dish TV.

Last week, Ms Ambika Soni, Minister for Information and Broadcasting, had announced a deadline of 2012 for cities with a population of more than one million and 2014 for the rest of the country to make the switch to the digital platform.

CONSUMERS WILL PAY MORE

Consumers, by and large, welcomed the move, even though they might have to shell out more money for the initial installation (around Rs 1,500) and face a hike in monthly subscription for cable services. But they will have more options to choose from.

Nagaraju from Khammam in Andhra Pradesh likes the fact that he will be able to pay only for the bouquet of channels he wants (sports and news), while his brother dislikes the idea as he watches only regional channels.

“We pay Rs 170 to the cable guy, if we get the same services for Rs 200, we don't mind,” says Nagaraju.

Rama Chauhan from Badarpur border made the shift from analogue cable to direct-to-home six months ago.

“There is no major benefit but we can control how much we spend on it by switching it off on days we are away. That way, we pay only for what we watch,” she said.

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