According to MoIC officials, the ministry has also decided to scrap their operating licenses for flouting the law that makes it mandatory for the operators to seek government approval before starting digital transmission.[break]
The cable TV operators facing MoIC action include Subisu Cable, Cable Technology, DigiPlus, Sky Cable, Jawalakhel Cable and Real Digital.
“The ministry has issued a letter to all the operators to shut down their services voluntarily," said Anup Nepal, under-secretary at MoIC. “If they did not comply, we will take forceful actions.”
The operators hold license to operate analog cable TV service.
“Besides, none of the operators were found to have installed Conditional Access System (CAS) -- a system which allows them to restrict unauthorized users and automatically update the total number of subscribers," said Nepal.
Ministry officials said the operators were also not providing their subscribers number despite their repeated requests.
Although some of those operators introduced the services only recently, the officials estimate their customer base to stand at around 20,000.
The ministry officials also found that the set top boxes distributed to the users by the operators were procured illegally. “Our investigation showed that the operators imported set top boxes in the name of television spare parts,” Nepal said, adding, “They can import set to boxes only after getting our permission.”
Set top boxes digitize analog signals. Existing regulation allows government to seize such equipment.
Nepal said the ministry has already initiated the process to seize illegally imported set top boxes.
As per the existing regulations, cable operators get operating license by paying a fee of Rs 25,000. But licensing fee for digital cable TV operators is Rs 100,000 per channel.
The ministry is presently preparing a separate guideline for digital cable TV.
“But this doesn´t mean that analog operators can start digital service without seeking our permission, he added.
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