India’s Information and Broadcasting Ministry yesterday set the deadline to shift from analogue to digital systems as 31 March 2015, The Times of India reported.
The proposal has been sent to the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) and will subsequently be put before the Union Cabinet for approval.
Digitisation, where the feed will be received through set-top boxes, is expected to be executed in phases and the four metropolitan areas of Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata and Chennai have to shift to digital addressability by 31 March 2012.
Phase II will include 35 cities with population of more than one million, such as Patna, Chandigarh, Pune and Bangalore by 31 March 2013. All urban areas are expected to digitise by 30 November 2014 and the remaining areas, by 31 March 2015.
“Digitisation will help industry grow at an accelerated speed. It is the key to (resolving) problems like distribution bottlenecks and under-declaration, leading to loss of subscription revenue that broadcasters face today,” said Zee News CEO Barun Das.
Broadcast regulator TRAI had recommended that phase I be digitised by March this year. The ministry had postponed this deadline by a year.
Industry insiders said digitisation would bring prices down, not just that of set-top boxes, but also carriage fees, by as much as half. (Source: ABU website)