BackDid You Know | You may have to shell out more for your local cable connection
Did You Know | You may have to shell out more for your local cable connection
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To digitize the analog TV network across the country, the government has cleared the Cable Television Networks (Regulation) Amendment Bill, 2011. The government wants to complete the digitization work in a phased manner by 2014. In the first phase, viewers of four metro cities—Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata and Chennai—will have to install set-top boxes (STBs) in their households before 30 June. As per the amendment,the cable operators are required to provide STBs to each customer.
How do you benefit?
At present, the analog cables can transmit a limited number of channels. Therefore, the local cable operator selects the channels that it provides to the entire area. As a result, the consumer is left with little choice. After digitization, you will be able to pick and choose channels through their STBs. Moreover, you will pay only for the channels you want to watch.
The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) will decide the rate for each channel and customers would know in advance how much they have to pay.
What’s the cost?
You will have to shell out about ₹ 2,000-3,000 to get your own STB installed. The operator can either lease it to you or sell on instalments so that the burden is not high. Then, there are cheaper STBs from China, Taiwan and South Korea in the range of ₹ 1,000-1,500.
The ambiguity
Trai has not issued any rate chart for the channels yet. So it is still unclear whether you will be paying more or less. At present, you typically pay ₹ 200-250 on a monthly basis to your local cable operator. Though digitization will reduce the burden of sifting through 100 or more channels, the monthly charge will depend on Trai’s list.
Another option
The other option for you is to switch to DTH (direct-to-home) operators such as the Airtel, Dish TV, Videocon D2H, Sun Direct and Tata Sky. Here, too, the total charge includes the cost of STBs and initial installation charges, which comes to be around ₹ 2,500-4,000. Here, your monthly bill is slightly higher than your local cable operator. Usually, these operators have some or the other discount scheme running.
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