The monthly subscription bill and the number of channels beamed by Arasu Cable are set to go up in the next few months with the Centre granting the Digital Addressable System (DAS) licence for the Tamil Nadu Arasu Cable TV Corporation Ltd (TACTV) last week.
TACTV is working on a proposal to be submitted to the government and to receive the Chief Minister’s nod. This includes procuring set top boxes (STBs) and revising the monthly pricing and adding new channels to its bouquet.
At present, the cable corporation provides its channels on analogue signals. This will change with the receipt of the DAS licence and all channels will now have to be given on the digital platform which requires a STB. TACTV is working out a revenue sharing model with the cable operators.
Competitive price
The cable corporation is keen to price its cable service competitively to ensure it doesn’t lose subscribers. “We will ensure it is priced well... We are looking at offering about 300 channels at a competitive price,” a senior official in TACTV told The Hindu.
Going by the AIADMK’s election manifesto, the set top boxes are set to be given free to subscribers but a final call will be taken by the Chief Minister.
TACTV has a bouquet of 146 pay channels but due to the constraints on the analogue platform, has not been able to provide all the channels.
Once the digital platform is ready, all these channels will be offered.
“There are about 25 ‘must carry’ channels like DD’s many channels and there are more than 100 Free To Air channels,” the official said.
