Trai for phasing out analogue TV services by 2013

The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) today recommended phasing out analogue television (TV) services in the four metros by March 31 next year and in the rest of the country by December 31, 2013.

In its recommendations on implementing digital addressable cable TV systems in India, Trai said the sunset date for analogue TV services should be December 31, 2013.

The regulator said the digital systems would enable consumers to watch high-quality digital television channels of their choice on ‘a-la-carte’ basis. Also, digital systems have the capacity to deliver many more channels to the consumers than analogue cable.

The implementation, the regulator said, should be carried out in four phases. In the first phase, it should be implemented in the four metros — Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata and Chennai — by March 31, 2011. In the second phase, all cities having a population over one million should target at completely switching over to a digital mode latest by December 31, 2011.

In Phase III, digitally addressable cable systems should be implemented in other urban areas by December 31, 2012. The final phase, which should be implemented by December 31, 2013, should cover all the remaining areas. All service providers who set up digitally addressable distribution networks before the sunset date would be eligible for an eight-year-long income-tax holiday from April 2011 (or from the date of setting up the network, whichever is later) till March 2019. Basic Customs duty would further be waived for all digital headends equipment and set-top boxes for a period of three years.