Hyderabad: Telangana appears to be lagging behind its neighbouring states in switching over digitised cable connections or Digital Ad-dressable System (DAS) from the current analog signal. As per the Union ministry of information and broadcasting, 50.27 lakh cable TV connections in Telangana state, and 32 lakh connections within the GHMC limits, should have shifted to DAS.

Of this, only 20.31 lakh connections have been seeded with set top boxes, which accounts for only 40.41 per cent. Many rural areas, mandal headquarters and municipalities in the state continue to receive analog signals. Mr Manoj Kumar Pingua, the joint secretary of the Union I&B ministry, says nodal officers are supposed to take stringent action against Multi System Operators (MSOs) and Local Cable Operators (LCOs), who continue to release analog signals after April 1, 2017.

S. Jagadeeswar, the president of Telangana State Cable Operators’ Associa-tion, however, blames the delay on the insufficient supply of set-top boxes (STBs). “Earlier, they used to supply pre-activated boxes. Now, they are supplying fewer than the actual demand, and the boxes are not pre-activated. MSOs take time to activate the boxes, and they collect activation charges from the customer, apart from the STB charges,” he says.

Anita Ramachandran and Rajit Kumar Saini, collectors from Yadadri and Mahbubnagar, claim that their administrations have been insisting on MSOs going digital. “There is a shortage of set top boxes, and we are bringing the issue to the knowledge of the state department of I&PR. We shall issue memos to errant MSOs,” they say. N. Hari Babu from Kondamadugu in Yadadri says that they have not got STBs. “The government had halted analog signals a few times, and whenever cable operators requested them, the analog signal is restored again,” he said.