Tamil Nadu Arasu Cable TV in revival mode, to hire 50 lakh HD set-top boxes

CHENNAI: In a significant step to revive Tamil Nadu Arasu Cable TV (TACTV) the State government has floated a tender to hire 50 lakh HD set-top boxes.

This move comes after the budget announcement made by State Minister for Information Technology and Digital Services, Palanivel Thiaga Rajan to this effect.

Elaborating on this, a senior official from the TACTV disclosed to DT Next that as per the plan, the entity will procure HD set-top boxes on a rental basis and distribute them to consumers within three months after the tender is finalised. Additionally, the company will provide a developed integrated platform and Conditional Access System (CAS) to restore its past glory.

A TACTV operator, T Rajkumar, has welcomed the State government's initiative saying it will infuse fresh life into the struggling cable company. "This move will help retain operators from switching to private companies due to the outdated and faulty set-top boxes," he told DT Next. Highlighting that the current set-top boxes, procured in 2016, have outlived their three-year lifespan, he said. As a result, operators face significant challenges. Lack of service centres in districts to repair faulty ones and insufficient personnel to address signal problems were plaguing them in providing better services to the end user.

"These issues have prompted many operators to abandon the faulty set-top boxes and switch to private operators. With new HD set-top boxes, the TACTV should provide sufficient service centres and personnel to address signal issues," he stressed.

Notably, TACTV has already seeded around 36.40 lakh MPEG4 set-top boxes through 17,230 local cable operators across the State. This new initiative is expected to further enhance the TACTV services.