Soon, CAS will be mandatory in all metros, satellite towns
ALL cable TV viewers in Delhi, Mumbai and Kolkata and the satellite towns of these metros will soon require a set-top box (STB) to watch their daily dose of entertainment. The satellite towns include New Bombay and Thane for Mumbai and Ghaziabad, Faridabad and Gurgaon for Delhi. Cable operators and government officials on Thursday in a joint meeting agreed to mandatorily extend the Conditional Access Regime (CAS) to all areas of the three metros and adjoining areas including the satellite towns of these metros, sources said. The information and broadcasting (I&B) ministry will soon issue an formal notification in this regard, sources who attended the meet added. This means that all cable TV viewers will soon have to shell out of minimum of Rs 2000 for a STB. The other option is to pay a higher sum for a DTH connection such as Dish TV and Tata-Sky. Currently, CAS is operational throughout Chennai and in select notified zones in Delhi, Mumbai and Kolkata. During the meet, which was attended by more than 130 multi system operators(MSOs) and local cable operators (LCOs) from the three metros, in addition to Trai and I&B ministry officials, it was also recommended that the CAS regime rollout in the three metros and its satellite towns be completed within 6-9 months. MSOs and LCOs are also learnt to have said that they were ready to implement CAS in the new areas. “This was a meeting to probe the issue. We will take a final decision after holding a couple of more meetings with MSOs, LCOs, broadcasters and consumer organisations. During the meet, stakeholders said they wanted CAS to be extended to the non-notified areas,” Trai chairman Nripendra Misra told ET. MSOs are also learnt to have suggested that there should be a notification for these areas, which specifies the timeframe within which digital cable will completely replace analogue cable. During the meet, MSO alliance president Ashok Mansukhani said that any further delay in the CAS rollout would be a loss as other platforms like DTH and IPTV would lure away consumers at the expense of the local cable operator. “The government should issue a notification in advance as it will help the consumer to be prepared for CAS and also enable STB manufacturers and MSOs to have the requisite hardware stocks in advance,” said Arvind Mohan, vice president of Wire and Wireless (formerly known as Siticable). Cable Operators Federation of India (COFI) president Roop Sharma was of the view that 6-9 month period was the ideal time to extend CAS to all areas of the CAS-notified metros. The decision for mandatory introduction of CAS has surprised many industry observers including broadcasters as they had expected Trai and all stakeholders to explore the possibility of voluntary implementation of CAS in other parts of the country.
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