Bandh hits CAS rollout in Kolkata

KOLKATA: The bandh in West Bengal on Monday has weighed heavily on the CAS rollout in Kolkata's Zone One areas. Several ground level cable operators who were gearing up to pick up set-top boxes (STBs) from multi-system operators (MSOs) could not make it to the MSO outfits. Barring the Kolkata Metro Rail, the transport system in the city was largely off the roads.

"Roughly 3,000 STBs are being distributed by the major MSOs everyday. One also takes a day to tune the STBs. Thus, we are actually pushed back by two days because of the bandh. Over these two days, around 6,000 STBs will be stuck at the MSOs end. This will naturally have a negative impact since consumers can't be serviced by the local cable operator," cable industry sources told ET. They also said that STBs which are being imported could not be cleared at the Kolkata Port or airport because of the bandh.

The sources said that cable TV, especially the news channels, are watched very closely by cable and satellite homes during bandh days. Without STBs, subscribers are deprived of this news coverage. "This industry should also be treated as an essential service. All politicians should extend support to us to carry on our activities uninterrupted," the sources said.

Meanwhile, Telecom Regulatory Authority of India officials are slated to visit the city on December 9 to review the progress of CAS implementation. They will look at the quantum of STB deployment, MSO readiness to live up to consumer demand, subscriber complaints and the levels of headend efficiency.