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Cable TV digitization in Chennai postponed again
[November 09, 2012]

Cable TV digitization in Chennai postponed again


CHENNAI, Nov 09, 2012 (Mint - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) -- Cable TV digitization in Chennai has been postponed again with the Madras high court on Friday transferring a hearing in the matter to a division bench, which will now take up the case on 19 November.



"Justice Paul Vasantha Kumar today transferred the digitization case to the divisional bench," said J. Srinivasa Mohan, counsel for the cable operators.

Cable operators in Chennai had moved the Madras high court seeking an extension to the digitization process citing non-availability of set-top boxes, which are essential to provide digitized feed.


On 31 October, when the deadline set by the Union government for cable TV digitization in the four metros ended, the high court granted a five-day extension to operators in Chennai. The court again extended the deadline till 9 November to give operators a few more days to complete the process.

In a previous hearing, the information and broadcasting ministry indicated it was willing to push the deadline to 31 December for digitization in Chennai if the Tamil Nadu government promised to implement the process by then.

The Chennai Metro Cable TV Operators Association had written to the broadcasting ministry that only 1.1 million out of four million households with televisions in Chennai had set-top boxes, against the Union government's claim of 69% coverage.

All multi-system operators in Chennai have to file affidavits before the next hearing on how many set-top boxes they plan to procure and by when they will distribute these to the public, Mohan said.

___ (c)2012 the Mint (New Delhi) Visit the Mint (New Delhi) at www.livemint.com Distributed by MCT Information Services

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