The Ministry of Information & Broadcasting (MIB) has handed out 20 new provisional MSO licences and two permanent registrations, ahead of the 31 December deadline for Phase III of digital addressable system (DAS).
The MIB has also revised multi-system operator (MSO) GTPL Hathway’s provisional licence to pan-India, barring few cities that fall under Phase II of DAS. With this approval, GTPL Hathway can operate on a pan-India basis except in Hyderabad, Faridabad, Srinagar, Bangalore, Mysore, Bhopal, Jabalpur, Amritsar, Ludhiana, Coimbatore, Agra, Allahabad, Ghaziabad, Kanpur, Lucknow, Meerut, Varanasi and Chandigarh.
The MSO was granted provisional registration on 30 July 2012 for the states of Gujarat, Maharashtra, Rajasthan, West Bengal, Assam and Jharkhand. With the ministry allotting 20 new provisional MSO licences, the total number of provisional registrations has gone up from 126 to 146, as on 20 August. Of these, three MSOs—C32 Cable Net, Reachnet Cable Services and Classic Digital Network—have got pan-India registration.
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Provisional registration given to 20 new MSOs and their area of operations are as follows:
Sun Cable Vision – In the State of Tamil Nadu (except Chennai and Coimbatore cities) and Chitoor District in Andhra Pradesh
Raagul Sat Vision – Tamil Nadu Phase 3-4
Dinesh Cable Networks – Entire Tamil Nadu
Andaman Cable Network – Areas in the districts of South Andaman and North Middle Andaman in the UT of Andaman & Nicobar Islands
Krishna Teja Digital Cable Network – Areas in Municipal Corporation and Municipalities in state of Andhra Pradesh under Phase III
Shree Rajrajeshwar Communications – Maharashtra, Telangana, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Andhra Pradesh
C32 Cable Net – Pan India
Reachnet Cable Services – Pan India
Nagai Cable TV Communication – Tamil Nadu state, including the district of Nagapattinam Under Phase III & IV
Ram Net Com – In the district of Kurnool, Ananthapur in Andhra Pradesh, District of Mahabubnagar in Telangana and Districts of Raichur & Bellary in Karnataka
(All the above MSOs were issued provisional registration on August 18, 2015.)
Vajras Digital Netcom – In the state of Tamil Nadu (except Chennai and Coimbatore cities
Classic Digital Network – Areas of all India under Phase I, II, III, & IV
(Both were issued provisional registration on August 19, 2015.)
Sai Cable TV Network – In the districts of Cuttack, Jagatsingpur, and Jajpur, Odisha
Sri Vaishnavi Communication – Tamil Nadu
Sharma Cable Network – In Lalsot, Didwana, Mandawari & Ramgarh areas of district Dausa in Rajasthan
TJ Cable Network – Nadia and North 24 Parganas districts in West Bengal
Alwar Telelink – Areas in the district of Alwar In Rajasthan
TTV Cable Network – In District Angul and Dhenkanal in the state of Odisha
Abhishek Cable Network – Belgaum, Bagalkot, Bijapur Districts in the state of Karnataka and Kolhapur, Sangli Districts of Maharashtra
Kashmir Digital Entertainment Network – In the Municipal council of Baramulla in Jammu & Kashmir
Permanent registration given to 2 MSOs and their area of operations are as follows:
Shirdi Sai Digital Network, which was issued permanent registration for 10 years on August 18, 2015, will operate in Phase 3 areas of Andhra Pradesh and Phase 4 areas of Telangana.
Uttar Pradesh-based Saptak Digital, which was issued permanent registration for 10 years on August 18, 2015, will operate in entire West Bengal.
