India ASO slips to December 2016

Getting anything decided, let alone implemented, is a near-nightmare. India’s Information & Broadcasting Ministry has decided to again set new dates for the implementation of its Digital Addressable Systems ruling, to December 2015 for Phase II cities and the following year, December 2016, for Phase IV smaller cities and towns.

The existing rules (issued in November 2011) mandate that all cable systems must be fully encrypted and that set-top boxes must be individually addressable.

The current dates were that Phase III homes should have been completed by the end of this month (September 2014) and Phase IV homes fully converted by this December.

The task is estimated to require about 110 million set-top converter boxes.