Cable TV Operators in Erode stage protest

Urging the State government to provide uninterrupted Arasu Cable TV services, members of Erode District Cable TV Owners’ Welfare Association staged a demonstration and submitted a petition to the district administration here on Tuesday.

The members said the services of Tamil Nadu Arasu Cable TV Corporation Limited were disrupted from 8 a.m. on November 19 and were yet to be restored fully. “The number of subscribers to Arasu Cable TV had dropped from 1.10 lakh to less than 60,000 now in the district,” they said and added that disruption in service was the reason for subscribers moving to private set top boxes.

They said services to 24 lakh set top boxes in the State were disrupted for the last four days and blamed a few private cable TV companies.

They wanted the damaged set top boxes replaced immediately so that customers continued to enjoy the services of Arasu Cable TV at an affordable cost.

In Salem, more than 50 cable TV operators staged a road roko in front of the Collectorate on Tuesday.

When the services of Arasu Cable TV were disrupted in Salem district three days ago, the Corporation, in a release, claimed that the services were disrupted due to a glitch in the software support offered by a private company and it would be sorted out within 24 hours. As the services were not restored, the operators staged the protest on Tuesday.

Though the town police held talks with them, they continued their protest. Following this, the police arrested them.

In a release, District Collector S. Karmegam explained the action taken against the private company that was allegedly involved in hacking the software controlling the operation of Arasu Cable TV set-top boxes. The Collector said the problem would be resolved soon. The Hindu