The ministry said that keeping in view the cut-off date of 31st December 2015 for phase-III of the drive, a meeting chaired by I&B Secretary Sunil Arora was held on 30thDecember to take stock of the situation of digitisation in urban areas falling in phase-III region.
The Task Force assessed the progress of digitisation as being very positive and noted that seeding has taken place in most of the notified urban areas with set-top boxes.
The seeding-dark area were only around 400 out of more than 6,000 urban areas, many of which had population below 1,000 while the rest were in areas having population of less than 5,000.
Further, the seeding figures as shared in the meeting indicated a high level of seeding in the country, to the extent of more than 75 per cent, excluding Tamil Nadu where certain legal matters have restricted the process of digitisation, the statement said. This figure was expected to be higher when all the registered Multiple System Operators (MSOs) provide their final figures, it added.
Examining the various aspects, the ministry decided there was absolutely no requirement for extension of the cut-off date.
Broadcasters were advised to ensure that no analogue signals are transmitted in phase-III areas after 31st December but without affecting analogue signals in phase-IV areas, the statement added.
