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Govt to introduce conditional access system for pay television

The Centre was planning to introduce a conditional access system, which would be mandatory for viewing pay cable television, Union Minister for Information and Broadcasting Sushma Swaraj said on Friday.

"The rates at which prices of cable viewing have galloped is certainly a cause of worry and we have been toying with the idea of introducing a conditional access system, which is mandatory for pay TV viewing," Swaraj said in her inaugural address at FRAMES-2002, a two-day seminar on entertainment business organised by the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry in Mumbai.

She said the government had constituted a committee for this issue, which was now giving final touches to its recommendations.

"I need not go into the issue of who is right or who is wrong, surely all stakeholders have a point of view which is justified. However, as policy makers we have to ultimately be answerable to the multitude of consumers," she added.

The objective should be that all stakeholders, including broadcasters and cable operators, get their legitimate due and the consumer does not suffer, Swaraj added.

"We like to create a win-win situation for everybody. In this conference, I hope some time can be provided on the pricing, technology and availability of set top boxes," the minister said.

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