Karnataka - Mysore   

Parishat moots cooperative body for cable TV business

By Our Staff Correspondent

MYSORE, MARCH 2 . With a view to neutralising the monopoly and arbitrary tariff structure of cable operators in the city, the Mysore Grahakara Parishat has mooted the idea of forming a cooperative body or a company by residents to start cable television business.

The convener of the parishat, Bhamy V. Shenoy, said such a body could start a cable television network with an investment of Rs. 4 lakh.

He said 500 customers could come together to form a cooperative body with each paying Rs. 800. A cable television operator had to enter into an agreement with a multi-system operator to receive signals and relay them to customers.

The parishat has not ruled out the possibility of the multi-system operator depriving such a cooperative body of signals at fair terms in view of the cartel-like system prevailing in the business. The cable television operators in Mysore have divided the city into domains inside which an operator has the monopoly as far as distribution of channels is concerned.

"In fact such a mutual agreement constitutes a monopolistic trade practice, which is against law. Even if a new operator wants to provide cable television connections at a competitive rate, he may not receive signals at fair terms from the multi-system operator since he will be disturbing the cosy relationship between the multi-system operator and the cable television operators. It is this cartel-like behaviour, which is crushing the consumers' interests,'' Dr. Shenoy said.

He said though the cable television operator's task would become difficult if the multi-system operator did not agree to give signals, it was not impossible. For, a multi-system operator needed an investment of Rs. 25 lakh to receive signals from satellites, decode and relay them. If 2,500 customers came together, they could own a multi-system by investing Rs. 1,000 each.

Dr. Shenoy said residents of Gokulam were about to start their own cable television company. "If they are successful, then residents of other localities can also follow their example,'' he added.

A meeting of cable television customers of Gokulam, operators, and multi-system operators was held at the city Police Commissioner's office recently. The objective of the meeting, which was presided over by the Deputy Commissioner of Police, was to find solutions to the grievances of the customers.

One of the demands of the customers was removal of cable operators from their locality. It was shocking to learn that the multi-system operators were not even willing to listen to the grievances of the customers, Dr. Shenoy said.

However, the police had promised that they would give protection to those who started cable television business. In this context, the parishat had encouraged the residents of the city to start cable television business, he said.

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