Phase III: Govt wants broadcasters to step up publicity drive

With the cut-off date for the Phase III of the cable sector digitisation drive barely a fortnight away, the Information and Broadcasting ministry wants broadcasters to step up their publicity drive.
Phase III covers all urban areas in the country, which are not already covered in the first two phases and the ministry wants that all the stakeholders should ensure that Set Top Boxes (STBs) are installed so that viewers in these areas can enjoy uninterrupted tv experience.
A statement released here said that the I&B ministry referred to a meeting held of the Task Force on December 11 in the run up to the cut-off date of December 31. Another meeting was held with Multi System Operators (MSOs) which was attended by over 120 MSOs from all over the country.

Members of the Task Force were informed by the ministry that a public awareness campaign is being carried by all stakeholders, multi-lingual toll-free helpline and 12 regional units are made operational, the list of urban areas, to be covered in Phase III has been updated for 24 states and UTs as per comments from the state/UT governments and other steps, the statement said.
Status of digitisation and stock and supply position of STBs were also reviewed and all stakeholders were requested to ensure that seeding of STBs is completed in Phase III areas by December 31 so that consumers don't face any difficulty due to stoppage of analogue signals, it added.

The ministry, in the statement said that broadcasters were advised to increase the frequency of publicity on cable tv digitisation and to ensure that it is carried by all the approved tv channels.