Star TV, RPG Netcom tussle in Calcutta continues

Even after six weeks of negotiations, the Star TV, RPG Netcom tussle in Calcutta over the carrying of revised rates for Star channels continues.

While Star TV claims that it has managed to break the ice, RPG Netcom, which has around 70% of subscribers in Calcutta city, claims otherwise. The remaining 30% subscribers are distributed among Zee TVs SitiCable and other independent cable operators.

Star TV claims that now 60% of the cable homes in the city receive Star. But RPG says that most of its cable operators have adhered to the boycott.

The blackout was called after Star TV revised the rates of its six channel bouquet including Star Plus, Star World, Star News, Star Movies and NGC to Rs 20 a month per subscriber. But officials at RPG say that their main bone of contention is not the revision of rates but that they are forced to subscribe to all the channels in the bundle and not those of their choice.

Star officials, on the other hand, claim that with the cable operators disclosing only 30% of their total subscriber base, the revision in rates should not be a problem to the cable operators.

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