Information and Broadcasting Minister Prakash Javadekar on Wednesday suggested that TV viewers should have the facility of switching cable service operators without changing the set to boxes. Addressing the first meeting of Task Force for Cable Digitization (Phase III and Phase IV), he proposed “interoperability” of the set top boxes (STBs) whereby customers could change their service providers by putting in a new card instead of buying new STBs. Citing telecom sector’s example, Javadekar said that a consumer can choose not just the handset, also the service provider. “But the consumer is not being given this freedom with regard to STBs. Why does he have to buy the STB that the multi-system operator asks him to? If there is interoperability of STBs, it will be such a good thing,” the minister said. Calling upon manufacturers to innovate and explore new technologies for addressing tastes and needs of different consumers, the I&B Minister said that in the next phase of digitisation, “the price mechanism offered to the consumer would be a key determinant of the process”. Noting that the cable TV digitisation process was aimed at providing consumers with greater choices, and quality options, Javadekar said the overall objective was to be sensitive to the needs and choice of the consumers. The Ministry has set a deadline of December 2015 for Phase III and December 2016 for Phase IV of Digitisation. By the end of Phase IV, the entire country would get covered by digitisation.
