According to the ordinance, the deadline for digitization in the four metros (~50m population) is June 2012, followed by all cities with 1m population by March 2013, all urban areas by September 2014, and pan India by December 2014. Thus, over the next three years each of the ~89m households will have to be digitized.
The sense we are getting from the industry is that there are execution difficulties and the time line could get extended by 1-2 years, but the digitization process will certainly expedite matters. We have observed that MSOs (Hathway, Den etc) have already started advertising about the mandatory digitization ordinance to their subscribers and are educating them that they need to buy set-top boxes. Also, there is a consultation process being carried out by the sector regulator to address the issues related to digitizing cable, including the pricing of tier and distribution of subscription revenue. Thus we are seeing the digitization process being accelerated.
Thursday, February 23, 2012
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