Customers irate over Kabelvision fiasco

JAKARTA: The decision made by pay-cable TV provider Kabelvision to acquiesce to the government's energy conservation recommendations by cutting its broadcasting hours has been met with widespread criticism from its paying customers.

Most customers accused the company of using it as an opportunity to skim extra profits by lowering the cost of production, without lowering the monthly fee that everybody must pay.

"We still have to pay fees for 24-hour cable access. If the broadcast hours are reduced by four hours, the company should give us a 16.7 percent discount per month," one customer Suryadi Setianegara was quoted as saying by Detikcom on Friday, the first day the company cut its broadcast hours from 1 a.m to 5 a.m.

Asked whether the company had decided to recommence its 24- hour broadcast, a staff member said, "no, not yet".

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono called on TV stations to cut their broadcasting hours from 1 a.m. to 5 a.m. in a bid to conserve energy. -- JP