<p class="bodytext">The Udupi District Cable Operators’ Association on Tuesday staged a protest against Telecom Regulatory Authority of India’s (TRAI) revised tariff order for TV channels.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Association secretary Kamalaksha Pai, addressing the members, said many dependent on the business will lose their source of livelihood due to the development. The tariff order is forcing cable operators to end their lives, he charged.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Pai said many DTH and cable companies offer over 60 HD channels at a price around Rs 225 per month. Under the new tariff scheme, the average distributor price of an HD channel works out to around Rs 15. Thus, if the DTH and cable operators try to provide the same 60 HD channels under the new scheme, they will have to pay Rs 864 to the channel owners. “In other words, we will get only Rs 225 from each subscriber. But we, in turn, will have to pay Rs 864 to the channel providers,” he said.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The consumers are also not going to pay extra for less number of channels just because TRAI has revised the rules. There are 366 cable operators in the district with 1.54 lakh connections. TRAI is making an attempt to mislead the cable operators. TRAI’s decision leaves the cable operators bankrupt, he added.</p>
<p class="bodytext">The Udupi District Cable Operators’ Association on Tuesday staged a protest against Telecom Regulatory Authority of India’s (TRAI) revised tariff order for TV channels.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Association secretary Kamalaksha Pai, addressing the members, said many dependent on the business will lose their source of livelihood due to the development. The tariff order is forcing cable operators to end their lives, he charged.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Pai said many DTH and cable companies offer over 60 HD channels at a price around Rs 225 per month. Under the new tariff scheme, the average distributor price of an HD channel works out to around Rs 15. Thus, if the DTH and cable operators try to provide the same 60 HD channels under the new scheme, they will have to pay Rs 864 to the channel owners. “In other words, we will get only Rs 225 from each subscriber. But we, in turn, will have to pay Rs 864 to the channel providers,” he said.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The consumers are also not going to pay extra for less number of channels just because TRAI has revised the rules. There are 366 cable operators in the district with 1.54 lakh connections. TRAI is making an attempt to mislead the cable operators. TRAI’s decision leaves the cable operators bankrupt, he added.</p>