People of Hyderabad are going to face a situation when they will not be able to view television without STB from the beginning of April.
Only as low as 30% of households in the city have got STBs installed. The deadline March 31 for digitisation is approaching fast.
Hyderabad and Visakhapatnam are going to get digitisation as decided, by the close of March. Cable operators are, reportedly, taking advantage of the situation and are demanding as high as Rs.2000 to install STBs. The actual prices is lower than Rs.800. Many low quality STBs have come to market and are selling in black market.
The demand for STBs has gone up because of the dead line coming closer. According to official estimates, the number of cable connections in the city stands at 19.63 lakh. Of these 3.06 lakh are subscribed to DTH services. Cable operators have supplied to 7.60 lakh STBs. The remaining number is 8.96 lakh.
There have been demands for extension of the deadline.
Source: DC