Pay TV operators left out of DSO plans

Austar chief executive John Porter has said that Pay TV had all but been excluded from the planning and marketing of the switch to digital technology after pressure on the government from the free-to-air networks.
“We have millions and millions of capital invested in regional Australia and we have a lot to offer if we were only invited to the table” he went on to say.
Austar is in talks with the Communications Minister, Stephen Conroy, seeking to get more involved, fearing the marketing could otherwise lead consumers to buy digital set-top boxes and other devices to watch the new commercial multi-channels, without making clear they could also receive digital services through pay-TV platforms.
The issue is particularly pressing for the regional pay-TV provider, as the analogue switch-off will start in regional Australia in 2010 before moving to the cities.
Source: Sydney Morning Herald
Item added: 11th November 2008