The much-awaited Cable Television Networks (CTN) Amendment Bill 2011 has been passed in the Lok Sabha. Government has notified the four phases for this transition, starting from June 2012 and ending on December 2014. Phase one covers the four metros, the sunset date for which is June 2012.

Even though the countdown for Phase one has begun, there are many critical policies and regulatory issues that yet need to be finalized by TRAI and Government to ensure a smooth path to digitization. These include promulgation of level playing field cable rules by the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (MIB) and digital addressable system (DAS) regulations by TRAI; grant of information infrastructure status to cable industry; holding training programs for a smooth transition; creating public awareness; grant of fiscal and tax relief to the cable industry; and notification of 74 percent FDI for digital MSOs.

The new digital cable regime will address issues such as under declaration of subscriber base and piracy, generate better subscription revenue for broadcasters, and higher taxes for Government. The transition will ultimately result in improved quality of service and ensure transparency between consumers and broadcasters.

While the government and regulatory bodies are adamant about digitization, LCOs and MSOs have their own sets of concern for meeting the deadline of June 2012. They insist that there is an immediate requirement of funds by LCOs for speeding up the transition, as set-top boxes (STBs) will have to be installed by the end of March. Moreover, there should be clarity on the Government's stand on FDI in this segment; transparency in the policy; temporary custom duty reduction; and provision of information infrastructure status to cable industry.

MSOs and LCOs are also worried that digitization will favor the big players and result in small cable operators going out of business, particularly those operating in rural areas as they cannot bear the high cost of migration. Ambika Soni, the MIB minister, has assured LCOs and MSOs that the Government is aware of the plight of small operators and rural subscribers and will certainly look after their interests while implementing the new policy.

–Anju Arora