First of all on behalf of all Lastmile Service Providers (LSPs) we welcome you to the coveted post of Minister for Information and Broadcasting and assure you of our wholehearted support in performing your duties.
There are thousands of Lastmile Service Providers who, for the last 12 years, are providing Cable TV and other broadband services like Internet and video-on-demand to about 40 million households in the country. These service providers are innovative entrepreneurs who have provided employment to lakhs of workers all over the country training them for day and night services all the year around. In forming any regulation or policies for the Satellite and Cable TV industry, we request you to kindly keep the interest of these lakhs of people who are the breadwinners of their families.
Our organisation has been bringing to the notice of the I & B Ministry the problems faced by these entrepreneurs and have been instrumental in bringing changes in the legislation with the kind co-operation of your staff and support of your predecessors. The latest danger faced by these people is possibility of their takeovers by the big business houses who are the MSOs (Multi System Operators) and Broadcasters, in the wake of implementation of Conditional Access for the delivery of pay channels on their networks. Everyday, new methods are being devised by these MSOs and Broadcasters to push out the lastmile service providers and take over the lucrative satellite and cable TV market for their vested interest.