Guwahati, Jan. 6: Cable TV operators are racing against time to complete the digitisation process in Assam by March this year in the face of hurdles such as delay in supply of set-top boxes and lack of infrastructure.

According to sources, transition from analog to digital channels has been affected partly by a delay in the supply of set-top boxes by manufacturers and lack of preparedness on the part of some operators to get digital infrastructure in place.

Official figures put the number of cable TV subscribers in Assam at 6.75 lakh. However, a majority of them are yet to convert from analog to digital. The operators in the state failed to meet the December 31, 2015 cut-off date for cable TV digitisation set by the Union ministry of information and broadcasting.

"There has been a delay in the conversion of analog signals into digital mainly because of a lead time (the interim period after placement of an order) of at least eight weeks for a set-top box. In fact, we had started receiving set-top boxes in November after placing orders in July," Anuj P. Borthakur, the business head of Axom Communications and Cable (ACC) Pvt. Ltd, told The Telegraph today.

A multiple-system operator (MSO), ACC caters to subscribers in Guwahati, Shillong, parts of lower and central Assam and Barak valley through last-mile operators under various associations. The set-top boxes are directly procured by ACC from manufacturers in China.

"So far, we have achieved about 60 per cent penetration in digitisation and are looking to cover the rest by January 31," Borthakur said.

Currently at least five MSOs are operating in Assam.

Jorhat-based MSO World View Broadband, which caters to five districts in Upper Assam, has so far installed 5,000 set-top boxes while another 5,000 have been ordered. "Supply is an issue for which we have not been able to meet the cut-off date. Besides, putting the digital infrastructure in place took time while some of the paid channels were allotted only last month," Dibyajyoti Dutta, director of World View Broadband, said.

"There is an immediate requirement of 20,000 more set-top boxes for which we have placed orders. We will try to complete the digitisation work by March 2016, and for this, we will place an extension request with the district administration," Dutta said.

The Kamrup metro district administration, for its part, extended the deadline for digitisation by 60 days through an order on Saturday, following a request made in the interest of the public by the Greater Guwahati Cable Operators' Association. There are close to 2 lakh subscribers in Kamrup metro district alone.

On January 2, the Assam government constituted a state-level monitoring committee to look after the implementation of the provisions of the Cable Television Networks Regulations Act, 1995.

The committee has been constituted so that no cable operator can broadcast or telecast any undesirable content at the state-level. The term of the committee will be two years.