Customers irate over Kabelvision fiasco

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