Applications
Extension for cable digitisation deadline in Chennai possible: I&B Ministry
NEW DELHI: The Information and Broadcasting (I&B) Ministry On Friday told the Madras High Court that it was prepared to give an extension for implementation of digitisation in Chennai till 31 December provided the stakeholders gave affidavits that they will implement it by then and not seek further extension.
The court extended the stay on digitisation in Chennai till 19 November when it will continue hearing of a petition by Chennai Metro Cable Operators Association (CMCOA) through its general secretary M R Srinivasan, which is seeking extension of digitisation deadline by three months. The court has also sought full details of the number of digital set top boxes available and seeded.
The court had earlier stayed the implementation first on 31 October and then on 5 November.
The commitment in the court on behalf of the Ministry was made by S Haja Mohideed Gisthi, senior central government standing counsel, when Justice N Paul Vasanthakumar said the ministry had itself admitted that only 60 per cent digitisation had been achieved in Chennai.
The Judge reiterated that the concern of the court was not merely the petitioner, but the average consumer in Chennai and wanted the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) and the ministry to specify whether the city had an adequate number of digital STBs and why they had not been installed if this was so.
The Indian Broadcasting Foundation (IBF) through its counsel said the broadcasters had put all infrastructure in place for digitisation in the four metros covered under Phase I.
A counsel representing two MSOs said local cable operators had not raised any demand for STBs. However, he said these boxes could be made available in 21 days after placement of an order.
However, counsel for CMCOA sought more time as he said enough time had not been given by TRAI for preparing the required infrastructure.
Gisthi had in the last hearing opposed any extension of the deadline saying the petition had been filed at the eleventh hour. Ever since the policy was unveiled in January 2011, the deadline had been extended thrice, Gisthi said. He said the centre had already entered into an agreement with 11 MSOs in the city and it was their duty to provide sufficient number of STBs.
The petitioner, noting that repeated requests for extension of the deadline was not acceded to by the government, claimed that only 1,64,000 homes had STBs in the southern metropolis and more than three million homes would go blank if the deadline was not extended.
The petitioner also said the multi-system operators did not have enough STBs to be distributed to all households.
Noting that the Tamil Nadu government‘s Arasu Cable Television has entered as the 11th multi-system operator (MSO) in the state, the association said Arasu has invited tenders for supply of one million STBs to meet 25 per cent of the city‘s requirement. Arasu is still in the process of finalising the tender, and even if the delivery of STBs commences now, it will take at least two years for the process to be completed, it claimed. It wanted the court to stay total implementation of the digital addressability system (DAS) in Chennai till the corresponding infrastructure is made available.
Earlier, the ministry had admitted that ‘the pace of seeding has remained somewhat static‘, saying Cable TV digitisation in Chennai was 86 per cent, including 24 per cent coming by way of direct-to-home (DTH).
Applications
Inshorts Group chief Deepit Purkayastha joins IAB video council for Southeast Asia and India
The co-founder and chief executive of the short-form content platform has been inducted into the IAB SEA+India Video Council, giving India a stronger voice in shaping digital video frameworks
NOIDA: India has long been the world’s most chaotic, multilingual and mobile-first digital market. Now, one of its most prominent short-video executives is getting a seat at the table where the rules are written.
Deepit Purkayastha, co-founder and chief executive of Inshorts Group, has been selected as a member of the IAB SEA+India Video Council for 2026. Run by the Interactive Advertising Bureau, the council brings together senior leaders from Southeast Asia and India to shape standards, best practices and measurement frameworks for the fast-evolving video and digital advertising ecosystem.
The timing is pointed. According to the IAMAI-Kantar Internet in India Report 2025, over 588 million Indians are now consuming short-video content, with growth increasingly driven by rural and non-metro audiences. India’s active internet user base has crossed 950 million, with 57 per cent of users now coming from rural markets. Yet the frameworks that govern how video consumption is measured and monetised were largely designed for single-language, Western markets and have struggled to keep pace with the scale, diversity and complexity of India’s digital landscape.
Purkayastha is no stranger to these debates. He already serves on the AI Council at Marketing and Media Alliance India and as co-chair of the Digital Entertainment Committee at the Internet and Mobile Association of India. His induction into the IAB SEA+India Video Council extends that influence into the global video standards arena.
Inshorts Group sits squarely at the intersection of these forces. Its flagship product, Inshorts, India’s highest-rated short news app, reaches 12 million active users with 60-word news summaries. Its sister platform, Public App, reaches 80 million monthly active users across more than 700 districts and 12 languages, serving communities that most global platforms barely register.
Purkayastha said the opportunity was about building something more representative. “India today sits at the centre of the global video ecosystem, but the frameworks that define how value is created and measured have not always kept pace with the realities of our market,” he said. “Being part of the IAB SEA+India Video Council is an opportunity to contribute to a more representative and future-ready approach, one that accounts for diversity in language, context, and user intent.”
As a council member, Purkayastha will contribute to shaping regional standards across video advertising, measurement and platform governance, with a focus on frameworks that are native to India’s multilingual, mobile-first ecosystem rather than imported from global benchmarks designed elsewhere.
For years, India has been content to play by rules written for other markets. Purkayastha’s induction is a signal that it is done waiting to be consulted and ready to start writing them.
