| ESS affiliate sales VP Srichand Iyengar said agreement
had been reached with InCable most issues but a sticking point still
remained over the demand by the sports broadcaster for payment guarantees.
While the details of the payment terms were not spelt out it would
appear that ESS is seeking either bank guarantees or letters of credit
that could be encashed in the event of payments not coming through.
Speaking to indiantelevision.com late in the evening, InCable officials
expressed confidence that a deal would be reached when the talks
resume tomorrow.
If however, the talks should fail, then the switch-off this time
round will be quite different from earlier ones in that it will
cover the whole country wherever InCable has a presence rather than
Mumbai alone. This is because the discussions that are going on
at present are aimed at reaching a comprehensive agreement that
is applicable across the country.
If no deal is reached, InCable subscribers in Mumbai, Delhi, Baroda,
Ahmedabad, Bangalore, Indore, Nagpur, Hyderabad and some other centres
will be hard hit.
Deal or no deal, it appears highly unlikely that the first match
of the triangular One-Day cricket series featuring hosts Australia,
India and Zimbabwe, which takes place tomorrow, will be affected.
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