Cable TV Operators Protests against TRAI Rules in Udupi
Udupi: The Udupi district Cable TV Operators’ Association held a protest against the TRAI rules from the Central Government on Tuesday, December 18.
Addressing the protesters Association leader Kiran Kumar said, the current system of cable TV in Udupi district is bundling of 400-plus channels (including DTH at a few localities) and the average monthly fee is Rs 300. However, we are forced to discontinue this. From December 29, TV customers must compulsorily shift to a la carte mode and they must demand their set of channels which will then decide on their new bill amount.
The biggest challenge before MSOs and LCOs is to alleviate customers’ fear of escalated tariff. “We are offering about 400 channels for Rs 250 -300 in urban areas and rural areas. Under the new regime, people, irrespective of urban or rural background, will have to pay more than Rs 10000 for the same set of channels that they are getting at present,” he said.
“In the present scenario, it is the Multi System Operators (MSOs) who were planning the bundling of channels and the cable operators are merely delivering them. From December 29, only 100 Free-to-Air (FTA) channels will be available. Out of these 100, 24 will be the various Doordarshan channels and the rest will be the other FTAs. So, the cable customers will have to call up their operators and confirm their bouquet.” If the cable bill goes beyond Rs 1,000 per TV, how many households will be interested in continuing to have two or three connections? The Prime minister should intervene and sort out the issue as early as possible, he demanded.
Later protesters submitted a memorandum to prime minister through deputy commissioner Priyanka Mary Francis.
