| The
court also recorded a commitment by the joint secretary broadcasting Baijendra
Kumar in this regard. The government official's commitments were taken on record
by the court as part of an order passed on 10 March 2006, which had directed the
government to implement CAS in Kolkata, Delhi and Mumbai within a month's time. The
government also assured the court today that a new notification on CAS would be
issued by 31 July 2006.
The government's stand on the issue means that
from 1 January 2007 all pay channels will have to pass through a set-top box (STB)
on a mandatory basis or else they stand to be blacked out of all cable homes in
the metros. Multi-system
operators (MSOs) have welcomed the court's decision as addressability would make
the industry transparent on subscriber numbers. "Addressability will benefit
the entire industry as well as the subscribers," said Wire and Wireless India
Ltd (WWIL) CEO Jagjit Kohli. Hathway
Cable & Datacom CEO K Jayaraman feels this time round there is a lot of clarity
on pricing, STBs and choice with a regulatory framework in place. The fear among
consumers that CAS pricing would be the same or even more than what is prevailing
on analogue cable is unfounded.
"Addressable
pricing is set in motion by the recent TDSAT
(Telecom Disputes Settlement and Appellate
Tribunal) ruling in the DTH (direct-to-home)
case. If that is the trendsetter, broadcasters
will have to make their content available
on digital cable at half the price of what
they are quoting on analogue systems. The
customers, thus, do not have to worry about
paying more for all the channels that they
are getting now. And in any case, in a CAS
regime they are select the channels they
want to watch," he said.
Besides,
MSOs are making available the STBs on rental scheme. "Customers will not
be locked to the boxes and can move to other services. The regulatory framework
is setting things in place," he added. Commenting
on the development, MSO Alliance chief Ashok Mansukhani said, "We are delighted
by the outcome. CAS will enable the cable industry to deliver more choice to consumers
at competitive prices." The
industry also feels that a five-month breathing period is a practical implementation
schedule. But how ready are the MSOs? “WWIL is fully prepared to roll-out
STBs not only in the notified areas but throughout the country,” Kohli said.
It will be using Headend in the Sky (HITS) technology which will enable it to
cover the entire country with a single Digital Headend. “Our value-added
boxes will enable subscribers to browse internet, chat, send & receive e-mails,
on their existing TV sets without the necessity of having a personal computer.
STBs will also have full triple play features including facility for VOIP digital
telephone lines using their existing telephone instruments,” he added. Among
the other features being introduced by WWIL are movie on demand (MOD) /video on
demand (VOD), pay per view (PPV), interactive games, smart card based real time
payment solution and e-banking, the company said in an official release. MSOs
and independent cable operators will have to work out commercial agreements with
broadcasters including fixing of channel rates. Said SET Discovery Ltd president
Anuj Gandhi, "Now the focus will be on MSOs to show their preparedness for
CAS. We hope to be ready with our rates in the next three months. By setting 1
January as the deadline, we will have to compress the time frame a bit."
A clutch
of MSOs had filed a petition in the Delhi HC in 2004 alleging that the government's
stand on CAS and keeping it in abeyance has resulted in heavy financial losses
to the cable industry. Also
Read:
Delhi
HC orders Government to implement CAS within four weeks | 
