HYDERABAD: As the country shifts to New Tariff Order (NTO) of the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI), confusion and anger reigns among cable TV consumers, as many channels have been taken off air since the transition to the NTO of TRAI started.
The TRAI had recently extended the deadline for implementation of NTO to March 31, according to which consumers can select the channels of their choice and pay only for them.
Customers who have not yet chosen the channels will be migrated to a ‘best fit plan’ designed by Distribution Platform Owners (DPO) Channels that are part of the best fit plan will continue to be aired till March 31.
Cable TV consumers in the city complain that DPOs have taken a free hand and are providing only free-to-air channels as part of the best fit plan.
Hari Goud, president of Hyderabad and Ranga Reddy Cable Operators Association said, “The DPOs are not designing good best fit plans for providing good channels for consumers till March 31 according to TRAI order. Siti Vision, in partnership with Siti Networks that caters to Hyderabad consumers, has been providing only free-to-air channels as part of the best fit plan. They have been charging us money for the best fit plan but are not airing paid channels,” he said.
When contacted, Siti Networks nodal officer J Gopala Rao refuted the charges. He said, “Till March 31, we are airing free-to-air channels. In some cases the cable operators are not listing the set top boxes for updation with us, which is affecting airing of channels.”