Chennai digitization update

The Tamil Nadu government and local cable television operators failed in their bid to get the deadline for digitization of TV signals extended for Chennai with the Madras high court refusing to give any further relief. The court had already extended the deadline till November 19 though the mandatory digitization regime was to come into force in the four metros – Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata and Chennai – from October 31.
Based on a petition filed by cable TV operators, the court first extended the deadline to November 5. Since then it was periodically extended till November 19, when the single judge felt the matter should be treated as a PIL and heard by a division bench. On Thursday, a bench comprising Justice Elipe Dharma Rao and Justice S Rajeswaran said it would not extend the deadline further as the interim order had lapsed on November 19 itself.
Senior central government standing counsel Haja Mohideen Gisthi said now that the deadline has not been extended, the Centre would implement the digitization process in Chennai at the earliest.
Earlier, the state-owned Tamil Nadu Arasu Cable TV Corporation Limited filed a counter-affidavit seeking extension of the deadline up to March 31, 2013. The corporation’s general manager N Varadhan submitted that it was taking steps to digitize cable TV services in Chennai, and that it has already floated tenders for the purpose. Noting that the cable operators registered with the corporation have requested for about 9.4 lakh set-top boxes (STBs), he said the supplier has said they would require about 18 weeks to supply 10 lakh STBs.
Assailing the Centre’s assessment that 11.06 lakh homes in Chennai would require STBs, the corporation said the Chennai Metropolitan Area now comprised large chunks of residential colonies in Kancheepuram and Tiruvallur districts as well. The area has an estimated 22 lakh homes that should be covered by the digitization scheme, the court said.
Meanwhile, the Chennai Cable Television Operators Association filed a petition amending its original prayer. Now it has questioned the validity of the central notifications dated November 11, 2011 and June 21, 2012 making digitization of cable TV services mandatory.