Kathmandu, March 20

The government is preparing to set a new deadline of April 28 for cable television operators in the country to completely digitise television broadcasting.

After the Supreme Court (SC) paved the way for the government to implement cable television digitisation on February 18, the Ministry of Information and Communications (MoIC) has prepared a new work plan requiring cable TV operators to migrate to digital television system, especially in urban areas, within the given date.

This also means that analogue cable television viewers, especially in city areas including Kathmandu Valley, are mandatorily required to switch to digital system from April 28. However, the government seems to be quite flexible regarding the implementation deadline of digital television system in rural parts of the country.

“The draft of the work plan to digitise Nepal’s television broadcasting is ready and requires cable operators to switch to digital television broadcasting within April 28 across all cities,” informed Anil Bhujel, an electronics engineer at MoIC, adding that a ministerial meeting will have to endorse the plan before it can be enforced.

As per sources, MoIC has set two separate deadlines for cable TV operators to digitise TV broadcasting in cities and rural areas.

Despite facing various challenges earlier, Sangita Ojha, spokesperson for MoIC, informed that the government is committed to completely digitise the analogue TV broadcasting within this fiscal year.

Under the digital system of cable TV broadcasting, customers would be required to connect set-top boxes to their television sets, which will enable them to view clear and high-definition TV channels. Its implementation is also expected to increase the government’s revenue.

Earlier, the government had planned to make digital broadcasting mandatory from November 14. However, the government decided not to implement the system from the given date as its implementation just ahead of the parliamentary and provincial elections would prevent millions of people from watching television and get updates of the poll results.

The digitisation plan faced a further setback after a case was filed at the court against the government’s plan to end analogue cable TV broadcasting system.

Meanwhile, cable TV operators said that they are ready to migrate to digital TV system in Kathmandu Valley any time while they have urged for flexibility in enforcing the digital TV system in areas beyond the Valley.

“We can switch to digital broadcasting system in the Valley from tomorrow, and can gradually switch to this system in other cities too. However, we are not in a position to enforce the system in remote areas, which are yet to be connected with optical fibre,” said Sudhir Parajuli, president of Federation of Nepal Cable Television Association (FNCTA), adding digital broadcasting across the nation should be made mandatory only after every district is connected with fibre optics.

As per FNCTA, there are 3.2 million cable TV subscribers in the country. While a majority of subscribers in Kathmandu Valley have already switched to digital broadcasting system, subscribers beyond the Valley are yet to do so, according to Parajuli.