Chennai:
The Tamil Nadu government has sought six-month extension for digitisation of cable TV operations in the city, saying the June 30 deadline set by the Information & Broadcast Ministry was "too short" to meet.
Under the Cable Television Networks (Regulations) Rules, all metros including Chennai should have digitisation of cable TV signals before June 30.
Since the deadline set was "too short" and several works were to be done, the Centre has been requested to extend the deadline by six months, an official release said on Friday.
Recently the Tamil Nadu government had informed the Assembly that the state-owned Arasu Cable TV Corporation Limited proposed to extend its operations to Chennai as well and the work for launching digitised services is underway.
Arasu Cable TV, though launched by the previous DMK government, was revived by the Jayalalithaa regime last year.
It has been offering services across the state barring Chennai.
The Information and Broadcasting Ministry last month notified the much awaited Cable Television Networks Rules, 2012, paving the way for digitisation of the sector.