MUMBAI: Many in the cable TV industry have been complaining that the Narendra Modi-led government has the put cable TV digitization agenda on the backburner. That no one seems to be taking the DAS phase IV digitsation deadline of 31 December 2016 seriously.

But the facts seem to be otherwise. The ministry of information & broadcasting (MIB) is definitely sticking to that deadline. It has been holding workshops to facilitate the understanding of nodal officers of different states about cable TV digitization.

One such workshop was held on 20 July in Hotel Classic Grande Chingmeirong Imphal, Manipur Manipur is part of the states listed under Phase IV of the phased digitization rollout plan announced by the government. The dateline for Phase I was 31 October 2012, phase II was 31 March 2013, and phase III was 31 December 2015.

Hosted by MIB advisor Yogendra Pal, it helped the attendees from Manipur and Nagaland understand the various provisions of the Cable Television Networks Regulations Act, the government mandate on digitization of the various phases. And finally its benefits.

The MIB has also told its nodal officers in the north eastern states to act against unauthorized and illegal cable TV operators in the region and issue penalties on them if they continue their operations without getting their operations legalized.