The television viewers in Dhaka and Chattogram will have to install set-top boxes from April 01 next to watch different satellite channels.
The decision was taken at a meeting between the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting and the Cable Operators Association of Bangladesh (COAB) in the capital on Tuesday.
It would help bring the cable TV network under the digital system, Information and Broadcasting Minister Hasan Mahmud told journalists after the meeting.
The government last year told the viewers that they would not be able to watch the satellite channels after November 30, 2021 without a set-top box (STB).
The High Court had imposed a stay order on the decision, requiring installation of digital set-top boxes with all satellite TVs, for one month and asked the government to explain as to why the notice in this regard should not be declared illegal.
As the HC has vacated the stay order, the government has started moving ahead with the decision.
Talking to FE, COAB President Anwar Parvez said that if the customers do not set the STB at home, the operators would not be able to implement digital transmission.
"We have long been trying to digitise the cable TV transmission system," he said.
The minister said the government has taken the initiative to provide better services to the customers and ensure that the government is not deprived of VAT and tax from this sector.
Those who will fail to install the STB during this period will be deprived of watching some satellite channels, according to the meeting decision.
The decision will be enforced also in all the metropolitan and divisional cities by May 30, he said, adding that already several hundred STBs have been procured and it will be implemented in phases.
The COAB president said the customers require taking STBs from their respective cable operators as all operators do not run under the same technology.
The STBs are not widely available in Bangladesh and are mainly imported. The cable operators set up the boxes at the customers' homes, or a subscriber can purchase one directly.
In Bangladesh, the channels are broadcast in an analogue system with a fuzzy output. The STB, a device connected to a TV, works as a decoder that makes the picture clearer.
About 60 channels are available in the analogue system, but the STB increases the number to nearly 250. Customers also have the option to choose certain channels to watch.
A STB receives the signal through the cable from the operator and then sends it to the TV after decoding it through another cable.
The subscribers in neighbouring India and many other countries use STBs. With about 20 million customers, presently the number of users of STB is very low in Bangladesh.
Mr Parvez said the picture clarity is the biggest benefit of a STB. This system will also help the operators and the government to count the number of subscribers, meaning the operators' profit and the government's revenue will increase, he added.
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