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Latha Venkatraman

MUMBAI, Jan. 4

THE Consumer Electronics & TV Manufacturers' Association (Cetma) has suggested the setting up of a Steering Committee primarily to iron out various issues in the implementation of the Conditional Access System (CAS).

Cetma is one of the stakeholders in the CAS issue which include broadcasters with pay channels, multi-system operators, cable operators and consumers (television viewers).

"The idea to set up a steering committee involving all representatives will be put forward at a meeting with the Union Information and Broadcasting Minister, Ms Sushma Swaraj," said Mr Suresh Khanna, Secretary General of Cetma.

Last month, the Rajya Sabha passed the Cable Television Networks (Regulation) Amendment Bill which brings into effect CAS. According to Mr Khanna, there are a number of issues which need to be sorted out before CAS implementation takes place.

The multi-system operators (MSO) were in the process of selecting their technology partners, said Mr Jagjit Singh Kohli, promoter of ETC Networks and partner Wincable.

"The MSOs have to decide on whether they want to opt for analog or digital or possibly a combination of both," he says.

According to Mr Kohli, there is a lot of confusion on the implementation of CAS. "There will be some teething problems, but once the system is in place, this could completely change the face of the industry," he says. He expects CAS to come into effect in the next six months. "Most MSOs are in the process of finalising their strategy," he adds.

The biggest issue facing consumers is the price of set-top boxes. According to the Cetma official, the prices for analog set-top boxes are in the range of Rs 3,000 - Rs 4,000 and digital set-top boxes in the range of Rs 7,500. These prices include various tariffs including customs duty of 30 per cent on imports of set-top boxes.

As opposed to the provision in the Bill that a subscriber would not have to change the set-top boxes as per his requirements of pay channels, Mr Kohli says this would be difficult if technologies of MSOs were different. However, he is confident that penetration of set-top boxes would be to the extent of 60 to 70 per cent when CAS gets implemented.

Cetma estimates sale of one to 1.25 million set-top boxes in the first year, Mr Khanna says.

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