KOLKATA: Catvision, a manufacturer, re-seller and system integrator, aims to manufacture 15 lakh set top boxes (STBs) by 2017 fiscal end.
The company has set sights on this goal as the cable TV sector prepares for phase III and IV of digitisation. Catvision is looking at capturing a market share of one per cent with this.
Speaking to Indiantelevision.com, Catvision managing director Athar Abbas said, “With the extension in the deadline for cable TV digitisation, the industry will be able to cater to all the needs of the fragmented markets. By the end of 2015-16, we are looking at five lakh STBs and by 2016-17 we aim to manufacture another one million STBs.”
Talking about Phase I and II, Abbas said that India could achieve an ambitious target as the digitization process as a whole was well executed in these two phases. “No one expected that Phase I and II would be done on time but India did it. However, in the remaining phases, the biggest challenge would be fragmented markets,” Abbas said, when queried about the challenges the locations, falling under Phase III and IV, might pose.
Speaking on the delay that digitization Phase III and IV have encountered, Abbas said that the government was keen on STBs being manufactured in the country. “The delay will give employment opportunities to many and keep a check on the balance. The industry is happy as the VAT has been reduced from 12.5 per cent to two per cent,” he said.
Catvision was promoted in 1985 by professionals, who earlier worked in senior positions with the HCL group of companies – India’s largest computer and IT conglomerate. In 1986 Catvision started installing complete CATV systems in company townships and hotels – the first cable TV network in India.
In 1990, it became the exclusive agent of CNN for a period of five years. The first Gulf War, captured live on CNN, triggered commercial cable TV in India. In 1995, the company made a public issue of stock. At present the company’s stock is listed at the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE). The company has its head office at Noida, and manufacturing unit at Dehradun.
