Cable cos get 5 years to switch to digital mode

NEW DELHI: TRAI on Friday asked the government to set a five-year timeframe for all cable TV operators to upgrade their analogue network to digital mode to compete with new distribution platforms, such as IPTV, HITS, besides improving their revenue earning prospects.

The regulator, while acknowledging that spectacular growth of Indian Cable TV industry during the past two decades was due to the entrepreneurial skills of the local operators, has pointed out that the present mode of Cable TV transmission, which is predominantly analogue, has various limitations.