MUMBAI: The Information & Broadcasting Ministry has granted provisional licences to as many as 27 multi-system operator (MSO). With this, the total number of provisional registrations has gone up to 451, as of 2 February, 2016.

It may be recalled that in January, the I&B Ministry granted provisional licenses to 42 MSOs in a bid to expedite the implementation digital addressable system (DAS) Phase III in all urban areas in the country.

Between 18 January and 2 February, the I&B Ministry granted licenses to MSOs operating in the states of Jammu & Kashmir, Haryana, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh, Tamil Nadu, Odisha, Madhya Pradesh, Manipur, Gujarat, Mizoram, Maharashtra and Kerala.

Of the MSOs, which were granted provisional licenses, only Viswam Digital Network based in Puducherry was granted a pan-India license.

The other MSOs that received provisional licenses for DAS Phases III and IV are as follows: Satellite Media Service, SL Cable TV Network, Sapna Cables, Sai Infocomm, Nathan Digital Communication, Maa Shanti Cable Network, Win Cable Network, Ghanshyam Cable Network, Information Service Television Network, Galaxy Cable Network, Shri Vinayak Cable Network, New Millennium Network, Sharda Maa City Cable, New Jai Bharat Cable Network, Sri Chakra Cable System, Friends Cable Network, CO TV, H.D Vision, Sahoo Cable Network, CZS Cable, D.M.V Cable Network, Vashnav Cable Network, Malanad Communication, PMC Network, OK Digital and Sam Digital Cable Network.