Cable Channel Blackout On January 24

The Karnataka State Cable Television Operators Association has decided to black out cable channels across the State on January 24 from 6 a.m to 10 p.m to protest against Telecom Regulatory Authority of India’s order on the new tariff order.

V.S. Patrick Raju, president of the association said channels will be switched off by the respective associations across South India. The State has 60 to 70 lakh cable channel subscribers.

The cable television operators have been opposing the TRAI order on the new tariff structure, which says consumers will pay only for the channels they watch.

Raju said the TRAI decision is regressive and would go against the interests of both the channel subscribers and the operators.

“The TRAI has come out with the new regulations without taking operators into consideration. At present, the operators are giving 450 channels for Rs 300 and if the new rules come into place, the subscriber will end up paying Rs 1500 for the same number of channels as the channel rate ranges from Rs 1 to Rs 19. In addition, a provision has been made to charge 18 percent. The TRAI regulation is a regressive act and new rules are introduced just to favor big corporate bodies,” said Raju.―The Hindu