|
The Karnataka State Cable TV Operators Association (KSCOA) Bangalore
representatives met with the leading MSOs in Bangalore today. On
the agenda were two issues:
* The Sun Network's Udaya/Ushe bouquet having gone pay.
* The strike call givem by the All India Cable TV Forum (AICTVF).
The MSOs have refused to blank Sun's Kannada bouquet. Most MSOs
say that enough notices were given to the cable operators that Udaya
would turn pay. The development was not a surprise to anyone, they
aver.
As for the cable strike call by the AICTVF, most MSO's this correspondent
spoke to were not in support of it. The general consensus appeared
to be that this "is just a drama being played by Zee to get
its DTH in place. MSOs cite their experience when they blacked out
all transmissions for three days in protest against the cable cutting
spree carried out by power utility company BESCOM over the tragic
death of a seven-year-old city boy when he came in contact with
a live cable wire.
At that time DTH subscriptions had almost doubled, the sales pitch
of DTH distributors was the black out being a reason to subscribe,
the MSO representatives say.
"Where were they when 5 per cent service tax was implemented?
And when it was enhanced to 8 per cent? Why this hue and cry over
a 2 per cent increase?" argues an MSO.
"MSOs have already given a memorandum on this issue to the
finance ministry, let us wait and see," says another MSO.
Sudhish Kumar of the KSCOA said that cable ops had not reacted
earlier to the Udaya pay issue because they were depending on the
TRAI freeze notification which was later overturned. Further comments
could be made and action taken only after the meeting the Dy. CM
which is expected sometime tomorrow
Countering this K Vijay Kumar, VP Udaya said it was the cable operators
who had approached him two years ago, asking that the channel be
turned pay. Vijay Kumar ads that it as been Udaya policies to supply
the decoder boxes only to cable operators who also had signal from
other pay channels.
"Not a single decoder box has been supplied to a cable operator
who has only free to air channels. At present we have distributed
more than 4,500 boxes at Rs 7000 each. We expect 100 per cent connectivity
by Friday and our signal is being transmitted across more than 90
per cent of the state."
An MSO in a Western Karnataka district confirmed that they were
transmitting Udaya. The director of the MSO said he would support
the Udaya ban provided there was confirmation that the switch-off
covered all of Karnataka, including Bangalore. Regarding the all-India
strike call by AICTVF, the MSO representative said that no intimation
had been given, except what was reported in the papers. A meeting
of MSOs from the surrounding districts would be called upon to decide
the matter only after an official notification was received, he
said.
All the cable operators and MSOs this correspondent spoke to had
one common refrain, "We cannot hold our subscribers hostage
by complete or partial blanking out. We have to think of them too.
We cannot go on strike for every rhyme and reason."
|
