Eight lakh TVs in Bangalore may go blank after March 31

Eight lakh TVs in Bangalore may go blank after March 31As many as 8 lakh television sets in Bangalore will go blank on April 1 as the Ministry of Information & Broadcasting has declared that the date for digitisation of cable TVs would not be extended in any case.

The last date for digitisation of cable TVs is just four days away, but nearly 40 per cent TVs of the total customer base of 22.68 lakh connections in Bangalore are still running analog connections.

In Mysore, nearly 50 per cent of the total 2.19 lakh connections were yet to install a set-top box required to digitize a cable TV.

Yogendra Pal, Technical Adviser to the I&B Ministry, declared that the dead line would not be extended in any case and TVs running analog connections would have to go blank after the last date of March 31 in the cities covered under Phase II.

He, however, added that the ministry was making all efforts to achieve cent per cent digitisation of TV connections by the last date.

Speaking on the topic, he added, "We are also closely monitoring the data each day for all the 38 cities. There will always be a rush during last minute and we will see it progressing."

Separately, Karnataka State Cable TV Operators' Association's President V S Patrick Raju argued that the slow rate of conversion was due to low-income group people's inability to afford the set-top box.