The consortium of multi-system operators and local cable TV operators have decided to block all news channels on Monday if the Central discom officials continue to indiscriminately cut overhead cables from electricity poles located on either side of the roads, as a part of the beautification drive for the international conference CoP-11.
Cable operator Jaipal said if the government is bent on showcasing the city to foreign delegates, it’s better to announce a one-month holiday of cable TV channels and industry. “Why harass the cable operators as well as the public?” he asked. On Saturday too, television channels were blacked out and cable internet services went kaput in several areas of Jubilee Hills, Banjara Hills, Khairatabad, Punjagutta, Ameerpet, SR Nagar and Shyamlal Buildings, to name a few, as Central discom officials continued their drive to cut the overhead cables tied to electricity poles on the side of the road.
Manish Mathur, associate vice-president of Digi Cable said, “The original proposal was to remove the overhead cables from poles in central medians. Now, the cables on side of the roads are being removed without giving time or notice to operators to shift them. The MSOs will block news channels on Monday if the drive is not stopped,” he said, adding they were not against beautification of the city for CoP-11. Cable operators were flooded with complaints from residents.