There are countless advantages
of Direct-to-home system over cable system. Once you have subscribed to
Direct-to-home (DTH) services you will witness sharp picture and voice quality,
power to choose the channels you want and o interactive elements such as
video-on-demand EPG, PPV, and TV gaming and many more value added services.
Most of you would say that the one-time installation and monthly charges are
expensive and therefore we would like to stick to our conventional cable system.
Which is easy to say. But let me help you visualize a life with and without DTH.
For easy reference I will talk about Mr. and Mrs. Nabeel family that comprises
of 3 daughters and a mother.
Mr. Nabeel comes back home after a long working day. And like any other man he
finds watching his favourite TV show the best way to unwind. He turns on his TVs
set and is shocked to see the arrangement of TV channels. He had obviously
memorized the number of his favourite TV channels. Now his favourite show is on
air and he can't seem to find the channel. He gets agitated. What aggravates the
situation is the 15 minutes of search of his favourite channel and in the end
finding out that it is no longer in the list. He asks his better half to call
the cable operator. She informs him there is no point in calling them because
she has already done that and they have asked for next 24 hours to bring back
few channels.
Mrs. Nabeel informs her husband that while she was watching the repeat telecast
of her favourite Turkish drama which she had missed previously, the channel
became distorted. The image and sound quality deteriorated. After few minutes
the channel was replaced with some other channel. But after ten minutes the
original channel resurfaced. After listening to this Mr. Nabeel manages to
control his anger and decides not to ruin his weekend and goes out for a dinner.
The kids are left home with their granny to play board games: their favorite
time pass.
Once they come back they are shocked to see their 5 year old daughter watching
an obscene scene on star movies, while the granny and elder sister are still
playing games. The couple instantly shuts down the TV.
Mr. Nabeel is really disturbed. He wonders is this why he is paying monthly
charges, so that he gets deprived of his favorite TV shows every now and then
and he can't guard what his young children are watching? Obviously the answer to
this is NO. But Mr. Nabeel does not have any choice like every Pakistani. We are
compelled to watch our favourite TV shows on cable operating system. The simple
reason is the non-availability of DTH system!
Had the family subscribed to DTH services the scenario would have been
completely different. Mr. Nabeel could have recorded his desired TV shows , the
number and arrangement of channels would have never changed, a parental lock
could have been turned on in case the parents had not been around and most of
all his entire family could have enjoyed playing games and do other fun
activities via DTH.
That is the kind of experience DTH offers ! But unfortunately we Pakistanis are
deprived of this simple mode of entertainment. PEMRA and government can't seem
to regulate the broadcast industry in ways they should do. Owing to the fact the
bidding for DTH services started in our country way back in early 2000s. It has
been ten years and we still have been kept away from DTH services? What is the
reason? Who is causing this delay?
What is the purpose of this delay? is it because the Cable Operator Association
of Pakistan has a strong footing and is influencing the concerned people? If
that is the truth then we should all raise a voice against it ! We as a nation
are deprived of security and are offered inflation and power outages. Is good
home entertainment also falling under the list of rights we have not been
provided? Think and raise your voice against this conspiracy ! So that Pakistan
Should have Legal DTH services for Pakistani’s where viewers can watch local
Pakistani content and channels and PEMRA should continue the DTH process which
was stopped on 4th of December 2015.