Digital Cable TV Bill Approved by the Parliament

By siliconindia   |   Thursday, 22 December 2011, 01:11 IST
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Digital Cable TV Bill Approved by the Parliament

Bangalore: The Cable Television Networks (Regulation) Amendment Bill, 2011 was passed by the Rajya Sabha. Ambika Soni, Information and Broadcast Minister, said that the Bill was targeted to govern cable operators of the country and to digitalize analog TV network, which will be done in an orderly fashion by December 31, 2014.

According to Times News Network, Ambika Soni said that, "TRP is the bane of TV programmes as it leads to showing of obscene material and superstition. The bill will address this issue." This was one of her concerns regarding the current situation of TRP. Soni also said how this Bill would provide the government with the right to cancel the licenses of cable operators who do not follow the rules laid down. She talked about how the MPs need not worry about set-top boxes being purchased from other Asian countries because these boxes would be available at a nominal cost of 1,000-1,200. She also said how the set-top boxes would be available on both, installments and rent.

According to The Hindu, this Bill will also provide a framework for observing the content of the programmes being aired through designated officers. The Bill also talks of how it will be profitable to all stakeholders, both consumers and cable operators. Consumers will be able to select channels and also get video-on-demand, while cable operators would receive a good amount of revenue through advertisements and subscriptions.

Soni said, “It is not anti-poor, it is not anti-small operators, it is not against persons who are earning their livelihood in the cable industry and it is certainly not for the big players. This is for the good of India and for the country to go forward in an organized fashion,” as quoted by Deccan Herald. She also said how the cable operators will not have to spend a fortune on digitizing their cable services and would have to spend around 2-3 lakhs for doing this and would get 6 months time to do so. She also tale ked of how this Bill would allow fairness, transparency and addressability in the operations of the cable operators

Members of the Opposition were also in the favour of this Bill as various programmes that go on air are “provocative and vulgar.”