The pace of seeding of set-top boxes (STBs) in Phase III towns is agonisingly slow and cable TV operators have a herculean task ahead as they face the deadline of 31 December 2015 to fully digitise their networks. The target rate of seeding has to be around 2-3 lakh STBs a day, says Siti Cable Network chief operating officer Anil Malhotra. Currently, the seeding of STBs is in the pathetic range of 20,000-30,000 a day. In fact, Hathway Cable & Datacom has not deployed any STBs in the January-March quarter of 2015. With Phase III of digital addressable system (DAS) round the corner, the multi-system operator (MSO) is looking to seed 2.5 million STBs this fiscal. The other MSOs also have a mammoth exercise to undertake. Incidentally, Phase III of DAS will cover 38.8 million television households, spanning 630 districts. Allowing for the number of multiple-TV households and TVs in commercial establishments, as many as 47 million STBs would be needed. Logistic support has to be planned to step up the pace of seeding of STBs, Malhotra believes. He was voicing his opinion at the eighth Task Force meeting.
Read more at: http://www.televisionpost.com/cable/das-herculean-task-ahead-as-seeding-of-stbs-in-phase-iii-is-slow/ | TelevisionPost.com
Read more at: http://www.televisionpost.com/cable/das-herculean-task-ahead-as-seeding-of-stbs-in-phase-iii-is-slow/ | TelevisionPost.com
