MUMBAI: The last mile owners (LMOs) will no longer be a fragmented body. This arm of the cable TV chain has decided to finally form a pan-India platform. The move comes after the national multi-system operators (MSO) formed the MSO Alliance, the direct to home (DTH) players got together to form DTH Operators Association of India and the broadcasters formed the Indian Broadcasting Foundation (IBF).

No formal name has still been shortlisted; however, it will be during the upcoming cable TV exhibition in Hyderabad that the LMO association from across the country will meet to decide the name and the board members of the pan-India platform.

The name would be kept under wraps until the body gets a confirmation from society registrar.

Currently, six state cable TV associations from West Bengal, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh have come together to be a part of this pan-India platform. More state associations are expected to join the platform in the upcoming exhibition, which will be attended by LMO associations from Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Maharashtra amongst others.

“LMOs at the grass root level have never been taken into consideration. A pan-India platform will give us proper representation and power. It will also help us take our views to the government,” says Maharashtra Cable Operators Federation (MCOF) president Arvind Prabhoo.

“It is in Hyderabad that we will decide on the functional constitution body of this platform,” he adds.

So why come up with this association now? Answers Prabhoo, “We learn from our mistakes. In the past 20 years we have never had one voice. While even the domestic servants have an association, LMOs have never had a strong pan-India association, but individual voices. With digitisation, operators have understood what is in store for them, and so also understood that an united voice was much needed.”