Financial Daily from THE HINDU group of publications
Saturday, Mar 11, 2006
Financial Daily from THE HINDU group of publications Saturday, Mar 11, 2006 |
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Courts/Legal Issues Industry & Economy - Radio/TV Roll out CAS in metros: HC Our Bureau
Virtual reality Industry fixed price of basic tier at Rs 72 plus taxes. This is likely to go up marginally now. In Chennai, the monthly cable payout stands at Rs 12 crore.
New Delhi , March 10 Viewers in Delhi, Mumbai and Kolkata may soon have to buy set-top boxes (STBs) to watch their favourite family soaps or sporting events on various pay channels. In a move that would pave the way for STBs in the three cities, the Delhi High Court on Friday directed the Centre to implement conditional access system (CAS) within four weeks. The court has also directed the Centre to pay Rs 1 lakh as damages to the petitioners (Hinduja TMT (Incablenet), Hathway Communications and Indian Cable Network) for delaying the implementation of the scheme since July 2003.
Picture not clear
Even as there is still some haze on whether or not the consumer will stand to gain, the cable industry feels that implementation of CAS would bring down the monthly subscription burden.
Happy cable operators
According to Mr Ashok Mansukhani, Executive Director, Hinduja TMT (Incablenet), the judgment was a victory for millions of subscribers across the country as they would now have to pay reduced cable tariff rates. The court has ordered the Government to revoke the notification issued in February that scrapped the rollout of CAS in the three metros. This implies that the July 2003 notification would be revived which provided for implementation of CAS in certain areas of the three metros. Speaking to newspersons, the Information and Broadcasting Minister, Mr Priya Ranjan Dasmunsi, said that the Government would study the judgment before finalising the next course of action.
Chennai show
About three years ago, the Government and the cable industry had fixed the price of the basic tier at Rs 72 plus taxes. This is likely to go up marginally now. "A study has revealed that in Chennai, where CAS has been implemented, the monthly cable payout stands at Rs 12 crore. This would have been double if the addressable system was not in place as each household would have paid higher monthly subscription fee," said Ms Roop Sharma, President, Cable Operators' Federation of India (Cofi). In Chennai, of the 12 lakh subscribers, about 50,000 have opted for STBs. While the cable service providers are of the opinion that pay channels would go free-to-air after CAS is put in place, broadcasters feel that this will not happen in a hurry.
DTH vs CAS?
Also, with several companies such as ASC Enterprises, Prasar Bharati, the Anil Ambani-promoted ADA Enterprises and Tata-Star targeting the direct-to-home (DTH) platform, industry is waiting to see how CAS goes down with the consumers. "We do not see a clash between CAS and DTH. Each has its own set of consumers," said Mr Jawahar Goel, Vice-Chairman, Zee Telefilms.
Related Stories: More Stories on : Courts/Legal Issues | Radio/TV | Consumerism
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