Plan to introduce expensive digital boxes slammed
KARACHI: Karachi TV Cable Operators (KTCO) Action Committee, the body of all city TV cable operators, on Monday slammed the All Pakistan Cable Operators Association (APCOA) and Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (Pemra) for clandestinely replacing the analog system with an expensive digital box that airs foreign TV channels.
Speaking to a press conference at Karachi Press Club on Monday, Chairman KTCO Muhammad Asif Soori said an underhand agreement had been reached between the Pemra and APCOA to introduce digital boxes replacing the cost-effective analog system just to benefit the affluent segment of cable operators working in the country.
He said a digital box costs a consumer about Rs4000 to Rs5000, besides monthly subscription fee. If such a system is introduced, cable TV subscribers would have to pay Rs800 monthly instead of Rs.200 to 300 for availing the cable TV service through analog system, he said, adding some foreign TV channels had already been blocked after this decision. He said only affluent people could afford to buy those digital boxes and majority of middle-class people would be deprived of such facility.
The cable operators appealed to the government to devise a uniform policy for all cable operators. They gave 48-hour ultimatum to Pemra to change its ‘discriminatory policy’ and warned of taking practical measures in protest if their demands were not met. After the press conference, cable operators protested outside the Press Club and chanted slogans.
Source: The News
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