Sensing a virtual unanimity among the cable operators and private TV channels on implementing the conditional access system, the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India on Tuesday said it would submit recommendations on the matter, including price issues, to the government by July.
Representatives of cable operators, Zee Network and other stakeholders spoke in favour of bringing in CAS at an open house session convened by Trai chief Pradip Baijal ahead of the finalisation of recommendations on the contentious issue.
"We will submit our recommendations on CAS in two months. Along with the recommendations, we also have to suggest some amendments in law because CAS was delegated to Trai through a notification and now we find there are some missing areas in the legislation," Baijal said.
"For instance, a licencee is defined in Trai Act but that definition does not fit on to a broadcaster. All these missing links have to be addressed, and so we are working on that, and within two months we will send the entire package to the government," he said.
Speaking at the open house in New Delhi, Amitabh Kumar of Zee Network said CAS was necessary. "As broadcasters, it is necessary for our business model to have such a system. It can't be done on a voluntary basis."
The support to CAS also came from the cable operators. Rakesh Dutta, general secretary, Cable Networks Association, said CAS should be implemented as it was in the consumers' interest.
"However, it should be mandatory. Otherwise the person who implements CAS would be at a disadvantage as others may not do so," he said.
Trai had conducted a similar open house in Chennai where deliberations were held on CAS, price issues on cable services, issues concerning advertisement time and schedule and competition in cable services, among others.
The session also saw cable operators from other states as well as consumer organisations throw support behind CAS.
Anup Kumar Sharma from the Forum of Cable Operators, Kolkata, said CAS should be implemented as it would help consumers pay only for channels they watched.
"However, I strongly believe the cost of set-top box should not be borne by the consumer. The service provider should give the box for free," he added.
The issue of inter-operability of STBs was also raised, to which Baijal invited further suggestions from cable operators and technical people.
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