Consciously or otherwise, a large number of customers seem to have missed the bus as the deadline set for the installation of set top boxes expired on April 16. The expiry of the deadline implies that all cable operators will receive signals in encrypted format from April 15 onwards and a user need to install a set top box to decrypt the signal.
The District administration did not extend the deadline beyond April 15. According to cable operators, a large number of customers were expecting the extension of the deadline and for the same reason did not install a set top box.
Interestingly, few cable operators were inundated with large number of requests for the installation of set top boxes on the day of the expiry. Acknowledging the last moment rush, Rajiv Bhatia of World Vision said, “We did receive request from customer on the last day but we are not in a position to honour all the requests.”
Significantly, around 25 to 40 per cent customers of a majority of cable operators did not install set top boxes till the expiry of the deadline. “Even if you factor in the demands on the last day the figure for those who have not installed a set top box would stand around 40 percent,” said Satish Sinha of Richa Cable.
Notably, the figure for customers not installing the set top box is as high as 50 percent in some areas. “Half of my customer have not installed set top box now they will face the blackout,” said Ibrar of Global link, a cable operator.