New Delhi, Apr 1 (KNN)  The analogue cable systems have been switched off in over 30 cities effective today owing to the implementation of the second phase of the digitization drive.
 
The reported level of digitization achieved as on 30 March was 70 per cent in phase II towns.  
 
According to officials in the Information and Broadcasting Ministry, digitization has been implemented in all cities barring Bengaluru and four towns in Gujarat where the deadline has been extended following court orders.

While the Gujarat High Court in Ahmedabad has stayed the introduction of digital addressable system (DAS) till April-9 in Ahmedabad; the Karnataka High Court has issued the stay till April-1 in Bengaluru.  The Karnataka High Court is expected to hear cases relating to both Bengaluru and Mysore today.

Meanwhile, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav has written to the Information and Broadcasting Minister Manish Tewari over the weekend requesting for an extension of six months in the seven cities of the state, namely, Agra, Allahabad, Ghaziabad, Kanpur, Lucknow, Meerut, and Varanasi; that were to switch over to DAS from today.  

The March 31 Phase II digitization deadline was meant for 38 cities across fourteen states in the country.

The cities include Agra, Ahmedabad, Allahabad, Amritsar, Aurangabad, Bangalore, Bhopal, Chandigarh, Coimbatore, Faridabad, Ghaziabad, Howrah, Hyderabad, Indore, Jabalpur, Jaipur, Jodhpur, Kalyan-Dombivli, Kanpur, Lucknow, Ludhiana, Meerut, Mysore, Nagpur, Nasik, Navi Mumbai, Patna, Pimpri- Chinchwad, Pune, Rajkot, Ranchi, Sholapur, Srinagar, Surat, Thane, Vadodara, Varanasi and Visakhapatnam.

"Though in some cities there is still a requirement of 30 per cent installation of set-top boxes (STBs), we are confident that in the coming days the required effort will be made," a senior official of the Information and Broadcasting Ministry (I&B) said.

The broadcasting industry had also keenly participated in the digitization process that has been undertaken by the I&B Ministry.

The Indian Broadcasters' Federation (IBF) had earlier declared that after the implementation of digitization, they would switch off analogue signals in the selected cities.
The third phase of digitization has to be implemented in all other urban areas (municipal corporations/ municipalities) except cities or towns or areas included in the Phase I and II by September-30 next year.

Under Phase IV, the digitization process is expected to cover the rest of the country by the end of next year. (KNN)