A group of cable operators in Gujarat are planning to hold a meeting with the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting officials in New Delhi on Thursday to urge them to extend the deadline for the digitalisation process in the state.

The Gujarat High Court had this week ruled against extending the deadline to install set top boxes. The group of cable operators from Ahmedabad, Vadodara, Rajkot and Surat are planning to meet ministry officials asking them to delay the deadline explaining that there is a shortage of set-top boxes in the market.

"If the Supreme Court can grant Sanjay Dutt four weeks' extension to surrender for his remaining prison term on humanitarian grounds, then even we stand a chance. If the Ministry is willing to provide set-top boxes to us, we are more than willing to implement the conversion. For now, we will request for six-month extension," said Pramod Pandya, president of the Cable Operators Association of Gujarat.

Experts have said that there are a lot of issues affecting the digitalisation process in cities. Some point out that the customers are not sure about what to do with the acquires set top boxes when they shift homes as the equipment comes with encrypted to work with a particular multi-service operator (MSO) and isnot likely to work on different networks.