Cable TV industry is at the threshold of digitalization that will help not only the whole broadcasting industry but will also help the Nation take a great leap forward in the era of Convergence. In the convergence world every 10% increase in broadband penetration increases the National GDP by 1.4 percent. Last 20 years’ neglect of the industry has cost the nation very heavy leaving the cable TV infrastructure fragmented and in poor state. It is not practical to finish the job by 2014 but a beginning is always a good new.
This is a known fact that telecom companies have failed to achieve the broadband penetration in the last ten years. Wireless broadband is never a robust solution and technology changes fast. Fiber optic cables are the best way to gain broadband reach for many years to come. Today, cable operators reach 100 million household and can carry much higher bandwidth than the telecom companies. TRAI knows this and have relied upon the cable networks for providing almost 50% of broadband connections by 2014 in their draft National Broadband Plan.