The Hindu Business Line : TRAI plans to digitalise cable TV system

IN a bid to improve the quality of television signals and to enable transmission of more channels on the same spectrum, the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) is considering to digitalise the entire cable TV system.

But the regulator has sought to de-link the Conditional Access System (CAS) and digitalisation since it feels that the two are independent and needs to be studied separately.

At present, only the broadcasters are digitalised at their end while most MSOs (multi system operators) and the local cable networks still transmit analog signals to the TV sets at home. With complete digitalisation, not only will the quality of television signals improve, more channels can be transmitted within the same spectrum, thus making it possible for the cable bill to be reduced while the service quality is improved.

But while TRAI has sought the services of consultants for advising it on digitalisation of cable TV, it has sought to steer clear of the contentious CAS, saying the two should be delinked.

"We want to examine whether digitalisation of the cable TV system can be promoted with or without CAS. That is why TRAI has decided to appoint technical and legal consultants who can advise it on various aspects related to digitalisation. Digitalisation will mean better viewing experience for consumers," Mr Rakesh Kakkar, Advisor to TRAI, told Business Line here.

Asked whether TRAI was about to issue final recommendations on CAS, he said these would be issued "sometime during this month" but declined to comment further on the issue.

In CAS, a digital signal from the MSO and cable network is converted into an analog one by a set-top box, which is available with the consumer while allowing increased transparency in the entire cable TV system since consumers pay only for those channels they want to watch. Implementation of CAS has been hanging fire for several months now due to several issue including the cost and quality of STBs and the increasing cable bill of consumers.

If the entire cable TV system is digitalised, the consumer may still need to buy some device to convert the signal back to analog, since our TV sets are still analog, thus incurring additional costs. Also, complete digitalisation will also mean investments by several stakeholders including MSOs and cable networks.

TRAI has sought consultants with presence in India but having a global reach for advising it on digitalisation. "The present analog cable TV technology can at best provide about 90 channels. In Metropolitan cities, MSOs have already started migration to digital cable system in a limited manner. The fully operational systems will be capable of providing hundreds of digital quality TV channels. In addition, the digital cable will also be able to provide interactive TV services such as pay-per-view and video-on-demand," TRAI said.

It said after the consultation process on issues relating to digitalisation of cable TV is completed it will make its final recommendations. Among the issues it proposed to study before taking a view on digitalisation are international trends with legal and technical implications, details of technical setup and costs.

More Stories on : Regulatory Bodies & Rulings | Radio/TV

Article E-Mail :: Comment :: Syndication :: Printer Friendly Page

Stories in this Section
ONGC to invest Rs 25,000 cr in Karnataka — Signs MoU to develop SEZ at Mangalore

RBI may dip into forex kitty to combat inflation

Single law soon for SSIs, says PM

Rising crude prices — Paint industry's burden may fall on consumers

Automobile stocks in top gear as crude prices ease

SBI hikes home loan rates

A move to `fix' the loan shift

TRAI plans to digitalise cable TV system

Seven banks to tie up with SIDBI
For VC fund, rating venture