Cable TV rates down only in Chennai: Trai survey

Font Size

Print

Feedback

Email

Discuss

Chennai: Cable TV rates, across several regions in the country, are on an upward spiral with most subscribers being forced to pay a monthly cable bill exceeding Rs 150, according to a recent survey conducted by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai).

According to the survey, the average monthly cable TV rates have been steadily rising from August 2003 to December 2003, and from December 2003 to May 2004. Interestingly, prices in slightly smaller cities such as Guwahati, Ahmedabad, Chandigarh and Bhopal are higher than the All-India average monthly cable TV rates of Rs 176.

In Guwahati, for instance, the monthly cable subscription bills are as high as Rs 226 to Rs 250 (42% of the subscribers are in this price band).

This was primarily due to the low-local cable operator (LCO) penetration and the monopolistic pricing.

The sole exception to this trend is Chennai - the only city where conditionalaccess system (CAS) was implemented in September 2003. The average monthly cable subscription charges in the city have reduced from Rs 131 in December 2003 to Rs 98 at present. This was probably due to the freeze on the rates of pay channels based on Trai directives.