Chennai: Over 70 lakh subscribers of state-owned Arasu Cable TV Corporation will now able to enjoy their favourite television shows and serials in digital form.
Four months after getting Centre’s nod for Digital Addressable System (DAS), the Tamil Nadu Government on Friday launched digitization of the Arasu Cable TV and announced that it would be providing set-top boxes for free.
Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami launched the scheme, a pet project of late Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa who had vigorously pushed for digital licence for the state-owned Cable TV from 2011-2016, at the Secretariat by distributing digital set top boxes to few beneficiaries.
The Arasu Cable TV subscribers would now be able to view 180 channels at just Rs 125, way cheaper when compared to the private Direct-to-Home (DTH) service providers who charge at least 60 to 80 per cent more for same number of channels.
Local cable operators, who will charge one-time activation fee of Rs 200 for each connection, would distribute the set-top boxes to the customers.
“Consumers have the option to choose from four packages, all of which includes both pay and free channels. While customers can watch 180 channels by paying Rs 125, they will be able to watch 230 channels for Rs 175, 260 channels for Rs 225 and 300 channels for Rs 275,” an official release said, adding that customers will have to pay Goods and Services Tax (GST) of 18 per cent as applicable.
Currently, the Corporation is provided a package of 100 channels to subscribers at a cost of Rs 70 per month, the lowest rate anywhere in the country.
Arasu Corporation, which was previously operating on MPEG 2, has upgraded its transmission to MPEG 4 technology, officials said, adding that the free STBs would be distributed to the customers in the next three months.
Arasu Cable TV Corporation was launched by the then DMK Government in 2007 to end the near-monopoly of the Sun TV Network in the cable TV market after the infighting within the ruling DMK’s first family came to the fore.
However, the Corporation lost much of its sheen following patch up within the family. When J Jayalalithaa came back to power in 2011, she not just revived the corporation but expanded its network and reach by introducing several schemes.
Late J Jayalalithaa had submitted several memorandums to then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and his successor Narendra Modi on the issue during her meetings with them.
