MIB claims 67% digitisation target achieved in Phase II cities

Complete digitisation achieved in four cities, while eight cities achieve more than 75 per cent

BestMediaInfo Bureau | Delhi | March 29, 2013

The Ministry of Information & Broadcasting has been consistently monitoring the progress made in Phase II digitisation in 38 cities. I&B Minister Manish Tewari has been reviewing the progress on a daily basis. As per the latest data, 67 per cent of the digitization target has been achieved in the 38 cities set for digitisation by March 31, 2013.

According to data received from the DTH operators and MSOs, as on March 23, 2013, a total of 108 lakhs set-top boxes (STBs) have already been installed in Phase II cities against the target of 1.60 crore, reflecting an overall achievement of over 67 per cent.

Four cities, namely, Hyderabad, Amritsar, Chandigarh and Allahabad, have achieved nearly 100 per cent digitisation. A healthy 75 per cent digitisation has been achieved in another eight cities – Jodhpur, Thane, Aurangabad, Jaipur, Pune, Faridabad, Nashik, and Ghaziabad.

Analysis of the data further reveals that out of 38 cities to be digitised in Phase II, 28 cities have achieved more than 50 per cent digitisation individually. These cities are Ludhiana, Hyderabad, Amritsar, Chandigarh, Allahabad, Jodhpur, Thane, Aurangabad, Jaipur, Pune, Faridabad, Nashik, Ghaziabad, Meerut, Vadodara, Sholapur, Kanpur, Varanasi, Bangalore, Indore, Ranchi, Lucknow, Navi Mumbai, Nagpur, Ahmedabad, Surat, Bhopal and Howrah.

The Task Force set up by the ministry has been meeting every week to take stock of the progress of Phase II digitisation. MIB has already conducted a second round of meeting with nodal officers of 38 cities on March 8 to ascertain preparedness in these cities.

As part of the public awareness campaign to sensitize the consumers on the benefits of digitization, the Ministry has also stepped up the Public Awareness campaign through print and electronic media. All India Radio has been broadcasting of the radio jingles on its national and regional networks for creating public awareness. Private FM broadcasters are also airing radio jingles. The ministry has already brought out a print ad in all 38 cities in the respective regional languages. An SMS campaign is presently under way in these cities.

As part of the awareness initiative, television channels have been frequently running video spots, blackout ads, scrolls, etc., to make people aware of the benefits of digitisation.

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