The Taliban have agreed to allow the partial broadcast of cable TV in Swat and operators have started to make arrangements to resume the service in Mingora city eight months after it was banned. "We have been allowed to resume cable TV service by Taliban leaders with certain conditions," cable operators told Daily Times by phone from Mingora city. They said the decision to allow the broadcast was taken on Sunday after a delegation of cable operators met Maulana Shah Dauran, an influential leader of the Taliban in Swat.Around 500,000 Mingora residents were denied access to information through news channels for eight months after the Taliban banned the service and bombed a local cable network. According to cable operators, the new arrangement allows for the broadcast of 17 channels. These channels are all either Pakistani news or Islamic channels, and no western news or entertainment channels have been allowed. "The infrastructure of the service was damaged during the militancy and we have to provide cable and boosters again, which requires technical expertise from Peshawar," cable operators, requesting anonymity, said.
However, despite the lifting of the ban by the Taliban, several cable operators are unsure about resuming their business. A cable operator said that resuming the service "is risky" as the Taliban could change their mind at any time. "These people are quite moody," he added. Residents of Mingora, meanwhile, have welcomed the move.