KATHMANDU, March 28: All cable operators in metropolitan cities, sub-metropolitan cities and municipalities switched to digital system from Wednesday.
They ended analog system of transmitting television channels as per the direction of the Ministry of Communication and Information Technology.
SC stays ban on analog cable TV
“We have decided to ban the use of analog cable television across all metropolitan and sub-metropolitan cities as well as municipalities from Wednesday. Television viewers now must convert to digital network to watch television,” MoCaIT Spokesperson and Joint Secretary, Ram Chandra Dhakal, told Republica. “Cable Operators hence forward are not allowed to provide analog TV services to their customers. If cable operators are found providing analog services, needful legal action will be taken against them.”
The government can impose fine or even cancel their license if a cable operation is found transmitting analog television channels, according to Dhakal.
The government took the decision to switch to digital system on the call of International Telecommunication Union. Although the switch to digital system had to be done by the end of November, the government enforced the decision now.
Television users are required to connect their television to a set-top box which will give viewers better TV experience as they will be able to watch TV in high definition with better picture quality. Likewise with the digitalization of televisions, the prevalent practice of connecting multiple televisions to a particular cable will also end.
The decision to switch to digital system, however, has not been made mandatory in rural areas.
“We will implement the decision in different phases. Television users in rural municipalities will have to switch to digital system by April 28, 2018,” stated Dhakal.
According to Dhakal, the digitalization will not only benefit the users but also the government. “Users can easily be identified by the unique identification codes for each user. This will make cable television sector more transparent for the government. Likewise, the government will receive taxes such as TDS and VAT from TV users via cable operators. This means more revenue to the government,” Dhakal added.
