The Hindu Business Line : CAS: The loose links

THE much-reviled CAS (Conditional Access System) is off the air, much to the relief of the people of Chennai and parts of Delhi. In fact, had Chennai instituted an award for a service causing the highest customer dissatisfaction, it would most certainly have gone to CAS, which has caused great resentment in thousands of homes by blacking out from their TV sets virtually their only form of entertainment.

If CAS was ushered in, amid much controversy when a few major States were going to the polls, it is being ushered out when the nation is set to pick a new government.

The culprit is not CAS per se, but the way the Government went about implementing it. First, it erred in making it mandatory and then getting into the pricing of the channels; these were best left to the market.

No wonder the consumer was put off and he retaliated by shunning the set-top box (STB), preferring the free-to-air channels. The increasing wrath of the consumer generated some delayed reactive action in the Government circles by the issue being brought under Telecom Regulatory Authority of India's purview.

Now that the latter has given in its recommendations to the I&B Minister, a fresh set of policy measures are likely to be announced. Before this, the Minister would do well to take a holistic view of TRAI's recommendations, keeping consumer interests as the only guiding principle in evolving the policy. The policy-makers could keep in focus some of these key consumer principles:

A bottom-up approach to satisfy consumer needs. The consumer requires freedom of choice for any product or service for which he has to pay.

Multiple sources of supply so that consumer has a choice of service providers. Cartels, if any, must be broken up.

A TRAI-drafted agreement between the service provider and consumer.

A price band that is in line with what the consumer paid pre-CAS. All price agreements to be consistent and made part of the contract. TRAI to review any upward price revision by the service providers.

A simple mechanism to redress consumer complaints, preferably through consumer fora where CAS is implemented.

The entire system and links such as the cable, the STB and accessories should form part of the MSO package and be covered by the monthly rentals. No advance should be sought. It ought to be an integral part of the service providers' kit given on lease to the subscriber.

The service provider-consumer contract must provide for adequate service and good performance guarantees. The supplier/cable operator must ensure periodic servicing of installation.

The supplier must declare the contact persons in each consumer area. Such persons should be made responsible for attending to all complaints and rectifying them within a reasonable time.

The contract should include a termination clause with a notice period on either side to provide easy exit routes.

The model agreed upon should allow a subsequent conversion to the DTH (direct-to-home). Proper safeguards for either party in this regard may be elaborated.

Till the new guidelines become effective, the status quo prior to CAS implementation may be restored immediately. The poor sale of STBs in Chennai is ample evidence of the consumers' deep resentment of being taken for granted by the MSOs, and the broadcasters not coming forward with any initiative to resolve the impasse. They are now paying the price for their indiscretion with the customer.

Transparency of operations of all the players is essential to make the business clear in the minds of the consumers. The broadcasters and MSOs must understand the root cause of the CAS rejection.

They should build confidence by directly communicating with the consumer and not leave them to the mercies of the cable operators.

CAS and DTH are new technology products and services that bring entertainment to the homes. The consumer only wants attention, care and clarity.

If the MSOs rework their strategy accordingly, the number of installations are bound to grow exponentially. In an open market, the consumer cannot be driven by legislation.

(The author is Chairman and Principal Advisor AIRDA, industry advisor and analyst.)

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