Chennai: Television sets having the connections provided by the Tamil Nadu Arasu Cable TV (TACTV) Corporation went blank for two days from Sunday due to a technical hitch, prompting the government to take quick action in rectifying it while the cable operators accused some private television channels of a conspiracy to lure customers to their networks.
Operators claim that there are 1.75 crore TACTV connections, through which the poor have been provided cable TV services for a cheaper rate of Rs 190 a month, and they were all disrupted because of the machinations of the conspirators.
The government said that the company that maintained the software for TACTV had illegally deactivated the software, leading to the blackout of the television sets and other services offered through the high tech connections. It said that the company had deactivated 22 lakh set top boxes illegally and the owner, Rajan, had been arrested.
The control software of the set top boxes had been hacked to deactivate them and the government had made efforts to rectify them by involving technology experts and also taking legal action against those who illegally deactivated it, an official press release said.
Efforts were on to directly contact the company that developed the software and set right the problem with the view to ensuring uninterrupted services, it said and thanked its customers and operators for standing by TACTV in the moment of crisis.
The government also published the names and telephone numbers of five persons in various regions across the State, who could be contacted to set right the problem caused by the hacking of the software. In the Chennai region, customers are requested to contact Arul Prakash at 9498017283.
Denying the charge of former Chief Minister and AIADMK leader O Panneerselvam that the government had not cleared the dues to the company that provided the software, a government press release said that the fee for software maintenance had been paid up to date.
The government had entered into an agreement with the company Mantra Balaji for supply of 36 lakh set top boxes in 2016 and the payment had been made. Of the total amount of Rs 612 crore, the government paid Rs 555 crore after deducting a penalty for late delivery and the excess amount collected as excise duty, the press release said.
But Panneerselvam alleged that the DMK had always neglected the government cable company out of selfish motives and said that the developments in the past few days had caused a fear among the poor if TACTV services would be stopped and they would be forced to subscribe to private DTH services.
