Ranchi, you must have seen ads saying you can’t watch cable TV without a set-top box after March 31. Impossible to imagine life without saas-bahu, breaking news, reality shows and IPL, right? So, go get the smart box before the deadline of March 31

Fifty-fifty

Of the two lakh TV households in Ranchi, 52 per cent have installed set-top boxes, complying with the Union information and broadcasting ministry ministry’s ordinance. It’s a middling score for Ranchi district administration. Still, Ranchi can be excused this time, as even metro TV viewers faced teething troubles — chaos, installation glitches, ignorant customers and cable operators and variable set-top box prices — in the run-up to their deadlines

Central code

The Centre, under Cable Television Network Amendment Ordinance, makes digital system a must. Digital cable TV service, already available through a set-top box in the four metros, will now be extended to 38 Indian cities. Ranchi telly viewers share the March 31 digital deadline with Patna, Pune, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Jaipur, Varanasi, Chandigarh and Mysore, among others

Major players

Calcutta-based Manthan service provider — which added the Mundari word durang (meaning song) for local flavour — is the capital’s major multi-system operator (MSO), cornering half the consumer base.

The other two — Gujarat Telelink Private Ltd (GTPL) and Den Digital Cable — are neatly tied in second place. Under these three MSOs, there are 14 control rooms in Ranchi which provide cable TV network. Under them function around 300 small-time neighbourhood cable operators. It is the job of these friendly neighbourhood operators to visit households and install set-top boxes. But finally, individual consumers have to agree and shell out Rs 1,000

Penny-pinchers?

There’s no shortage of set-top boxes, claimed all cable operators unanimously. “But when we tell our customers about the March 31 deadline, many say, ‘Rs 1,000, forget it’. What can we do?” said a local cable operator, refusing to be named. “We tell them that after March 31, you can’t watch cable TV. Many don’t believe it. But this isn’t an April Fool joke,” he added.

Ibrar Ahmed, one of the owners of Manthan Durang, agreed: “Many consumers don’t respond positively towards set top boxes. That’s why progress of installation is very slow. We have managed to reach out to some 50 per cent households of our total 1 lakh subscriber base,” he added.

Sources said Den Digital Cable installed set-top boxes among 80 per cent of its subscribers. GTPL has managed to convince only 30 per cent of its customers. “We need an extension of at least another month,” said Vijay Kumar, a cable television operator of GTPL.

The net result — Ranchi is a long way off in meeting the March 31 deadline set by the Centre’s I&B ministry.

Those who have got their set-top boxes are a relieved lot.

“I got the set-top box installed a fortnight ago, no worries,” smiled Vishwanath Karmakar, Tharpakhna resident and subscriber of Manthan Durang.

“I’ve contacted my cable TV operator and will definitely install the set-top box within the March 31 deadline,” said R.P. Shrivatsava, resident of Chitragupta Nagar, Bariatu

Did you face any glitch over getting your set-top box? Tell ttkhand@abpmail.com