The Hindu Business Line : CAS push to set-top boxes

Business Daily from THE HINDU group of publications Tuesday, Jan 02, 2007 ePaper

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CAS push to set-top boxes

Tariq Engineer

Demand outpaces supply; MSOs taken by surprise

Mumbai , Jan. 1

The New Year did not start well for many cable TV viewers as most of their favourite channels went off the air on Sunday night.

With the conditional access system (CAS) having come into effect from January 1, pay channels are now available only through a set-top box (STB).

Set-top boxes

However, many cable subscribers in the notified areas of Mumbai, Delhi and Kolkata found it impossible to get a STB at the last minute.

"Crazy" was how Mr Ravi Mansukhani, Director, IndusInd Media & Communications Ltd, described the rush for STBs.

According to him, his company had so many customers calling that its phone lines were jammed.

Though multi-system operators (MSOs) were expecting a last minute rush for STBs, the flurry of requests took them by surprise and demand has outpaced supply.

"There is a massive demand," said the CEO of Wire and Wireless India Ltd, Mr Jagjit Singh Kohli, "We are prepared to airlift (boxes) and we will be getting regular supplies from Tuesday."

IndusInd Media installed roughly 4,000 STBs in Mumbai and 2,000 in Delhi on Sunday. Mr Mansukhani expects the rush to continue for the rest of the week.

Installation

IMCL has roughly 1.5 lakh STBs in stock, enough to meet the current demand, but time constraints make it impossible to install the boxes on the same day for every household. Therefore, some customers have been forced to wait a day before receiving their boxes.

The Hathway Cable & Datacom Pvt Ltd Managing Director and CEO, Mr K. Jayaraman, said the company had been partially taken by surprise by the increase in demand, but was working hard to supply customers with STBs within 48 hours.