CHENNAI: Subscribers of the Tamil Nadu Arasu Cable TV Corporation Limited (TACTV) will start getting set top boxes free of cost from now on and the distribution is expected to be completed by December this year. The only charge the local cable operators are authorised to collect is `200 as activation fee and nothing more.
The subscribers have to fill in the customer acquisition forms (CAF) to their respective LOCs for getting these boxes. The TACTV management has made arrangements to prevent LOCs from collecting more amount from the subscribers. Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami on Friday commenced the distribution of set-top boxes at a simple function held at the secretariat and 32 subscribers along with their LOCs from 32 districts received the boxes in person. Simultaneously, 1,000 settop boxes for each of the 32 districts have been despatched.
Meanwhile, the Chief Minister also inaugurated the TACTV control room at Nungambakkam upgraded from MPEG-2 to MPEG-4 technology. Providing set-top boxes free of cost is one of the electoral promises of the AIADMK made during the 2016 Assembly elections. “As per the requirements placed by LOCs regarding the standard definition set-top boxes and high-definition set-top boxes, in the first phase, orders for procuring 12 lakh boxes have been placed. We will be sending the boxes as and when they are received at four godowns in Chennai, Madurai, Tiruchy and Coimbatore where the LOCs will receive the boxes after showing the application forms submitted by the subscribers,” TACTV officials told Express.
