NEW DELHI: Following an assurance in the last Task Force meeting, the Government has extended till 6 February the last date for multi-system operators for registration for Phase III of digital addressable systems (DAS) for cable television.
 
The earlier date was 21 December.
 
The Ministry noted that Cable TV digitisation in remaining urban areas not covered in phases I and II is slated for completion by 1 December 2O15.
 
Cable TV Digitisation Security clearance from the Home Ministry – a prerequisite for permanent registration - takes about three to four months.
 
The extension is being given as MSOs complained at the last meeting of the Task Force for phase III that they needed sufficient time to operationalise their digital set ups after the issue of the registration.

Speaking at the task force meeting last week, several stakeholders also wanted online registration for MSOs wanting to enter their names for phase III.
Information and Broadcasting Ministry Additional Secretary J S Mathur, who chaired the meeting, also said that meetings were being organised between manufacturers of indigenous set top boxes and the Ministry of Information and Technology.

Mathur responding to queries from some MSO’s wanted them to prepare a list of areas in phase III which were currently not being reached by cable television. A member had pointed out that a Headend In The Sky (HITS) platform could be used in such areas.