Your cable bill will stretch you soon

NEW DELHI/MUMBAI: Come new year and your monthly cable TV bill will be all set to be pushed up further, according to a tariff order issued by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI).

Even as a hike of four per cent has been spelt out on the basic charges, an industry insider pointed out that the monthly payout by consumers for watching cable TV will go up by anything from Rs 32 to Rs 60.

"Soon watching cable TV would be as expensive as subscribing to a direct-to-home (DTH) broadcasting service," a cable TV representative said. Cable is usually seen as a service for the masses, while DTH is for premium content.

Vikky Chowdhury, a representative of the Cable Operators United Front, pointed out that the new tariff order will benefit pay channels (such as Star, Zee, Sony, ESPN-Star, Ten Sports etc), as they will demand an increased payout from MSOs and cable operators now.

In Mumbai too, Cable and multi-system operators are not happy.

Nearly 7,000 cable operators of Mumbai have condemned the hike which according to them does not take into account the inflated prices of the pay channels.

They have decided to formally request TRAI to give them some sort of relief from the increase rates.

"We pay so much money for the pay channels, the TRAI should be taking that into account before going for a hike," explained Anil Parab, secretary of the Cable Operator and Distributors' Association (CODA). In Mumbai, a cable operator charges Rs 250 per cable connection for a package of some 35 pay channels.