Kathmandu: Television distributors have said that the monthly fee paid by the customers will increase after the implementation of Clean Feed. They argues that the cost of watching television may increase as foreign channels provide separate clean feeds for Nepal.

It has been one week since the introduction of Clean Feed in foreign television broadcasts in Nepal. However, some channels have not been able to connect the equipment required for Clean Feed.

Television distributors have said that the cost of equipment used for clean feeds will be higher, operating costs and the cost of satellites will also increase.Dhruv Sharma, president of the Federation of Nepal Cable Television Entrepreneurs, says that the cost of clean feed has increased as television broadcasters have to invest heavily in technology. He said that the money paid by Nepal’s television distributors to the broadcasters for taking clean fed channels will also increase and the burden will fall on the consumers.

“If the government does not fix the basic service fee for television and allow foreign channels to be seen in the package, the fee to be paid by the consumers will increase in the near future,” Sharma said.He said that the current fee would be increased by 25 to 30 percent if only the favorite channels are not allowed to be watched on the channels other than the basic package.

In discussions with the government, the television distributors have proposed to give the facility to the customers to add channels as per their cluster by keeping the foreign channel optional by fixing the basic fee for the Nepali channel. The government has not allowed the minimum fee of Rs 250 to be added to the channel of the customer’s choice.