Taipei – China Network Systems Co Ltd (CNS), the nation’s second-largest cable TV provider, said it would raise its capital expenditure this year by 20 percent, including on upgrading its digital network and purchasing set-top boxes, to promote its new digital TV business. CNS said it has started offering digital TV programs such as Discovery HD on four digital channels along with 80 digitalized analog channels for subscribers. Yet, according to the Taipei Times, CNS lags its competitors in offering high-quality TV programs, what with local rivals Kbro Co Ltd, Taiwan Broadband Communications and Taiwan Mobile Broadband delivering digital TV programs in the first half of the year. To help its new business grow, CNS plans to allocate 15 percent of this year’s total capital expenditure on its digital business, including the purchase of set-top boxes, which convert analog signals into digital, CEO Charles McElroy told a media briefing. McElroy said last year that CNS planned to invest NT$5 billion over five years on network upgrades and deployment. CNS currently has 1.04 million cable TV subscribers, with half of them expected to switch to digital TV in the following years, McElroy said. The uptake in Taiwan would be faster than the US, which took more than 10 years to boost the penetration of digital TV services to 58 percent, as people here are more tech-savvy, he said.