Operators from Tamilnadu brief Ms. Ambika Soni

Members of the Tamilnadu Cable TV Service Providers Association met the honorable minister of Information and Broadcasting Ms. Ambika Soni on 19 July 2012 to apprise her of the situation of digitalisation in Tamilnadu state.

Office bearers who were part of the delegation included Shri SPK Goguldoss: State President, Shri S. K. Bhaskar: State General Secretary, Shri D. Dhairiyanathan, State Treasurer and Shri V. Subramanian, Chairman, M/s Akshaya Diginet Cable Vision Pvt. Ltd., Chennai.

In the meeting they briefed the Minister on the current scenario of Tamilnadu in particular the position of LCOs and the basic issues faced by them Operators expressed their fear that the LCOs were denied a fair chance to play their role in digitalisation being neglected by the trade regulator TRAI and the government of India in general. They welcomed the DAS and expected the union government to take necessary steps for the effective and speedy implementation of DAS and to protect, the livelihood of the LCOs.

Points put across by the operators:

1. Cable Operators of Tamilnadu wanted to be free from the MSOs in implementing the DAS with the best quality of service to the end consumer.

They elaborated that they have invested their earnings from this industry in the last 23 years for the upgradation of the network. Now they need a huge investment for Digital Headend and STBs, for which they are ready too. They want the government to make necessary advice to the Banks for giving loans to Cable TV operators without unnecessary pre-conditions to augment the funds on war footing for speedy implementation of DAS.

2. Though the Trade Regulator, TRAI has announced that the pay channels should announce their channel rates on al-a-carte for DAS areas, it has not been carried out so far by the broadcasters who are always in favour of other players like DTH and MSOs because most of the broadcasters are DTH players as well as MSOs themselves and want to eliminate the LCOs from the Cable TV industry itself. Government should direct broadcasters to announce their channel’s al-a-carte rates to MSOs, LCOs and the public immediately and provide the content without discrimination.

Operators informed that many cases have been filed in TDSAT for the violation of rules and regulations, framed by the TRAI like dishonouring the terms of mutual agreement, issuing the invoices and receipts for the payments made by the LCOs to the broadcasters without following the regulations etc. Suitable steps for the effective implementation of existing rules & regulations to implement DAS are needed urgently. The time delay in signing the agreements by the broadcasters will push the scheme itself further which should be avoided.

3. Chennai is in the Phase–I which should be completed on 1st November 2012 where approximately 27 lakhs customers need the Digital signal through Set Top Boxes, the Cable TV Operators should be given a chance to form their own Digital Headend in their region to successfully achieve the goal within the time limit as planned by the government.

Source: http://cablequest.org/news/cable-news/item/343-operators-from-tamilnadu-brief-ms-ambika-soni.html