MUMBAI: Hinduja TMT executive vice-president (corporate affairs) Ashok Mansukhani , in his presentation at ficci FRAMES 2003 on 'Conditional Access System : a mid term review', addressed various issues related to CAS such as the features of the set top boxes, the advantages of CAS and how it would benefit not only the consumers but also the MSOs, the operators and the government. |
He began his session by giving a brief outline of the prevailing scenario of the Indian cable industry, substantiated with facts and figures of studies conducted over the years. He stated that-- Explaining how all these problems will come to an end with the passage of the Conditional Access System regulations in the Cable Act, he went on to say that -
Giving a brief outline of what the CAS Revolution would be all about is and the technology it would entail , he spoke about the digital and analog set top box ( STB) and its features . He stressed on the following special features of Digital STBs * Interactive content and data services reach the television sets Commenting on the quality of transmission he said it would be -- He also added that with the present pay channels number being 32 (many more expected in India), the cable operators will be left with 29 channels for free to air whereas MSOs like IMC can give at least 70 free to air channels. In addition , extra channels capacity will be available for value added services viz. Internet, Video on demand, email/ SMS, telephone, games on demand, electronic program guide, pay per view and mobile messaging Internet advertising. Bringing to light how CAS would benefit the consumers stand to benefit because --
On how Broadcasters would benefit with CAS --
MSOs benefit because:
The Government Benefits: Speaking on contentious issues like consumer concerns he said that the government and the information and broadcasting minister have clearly declared their concern to keep customer concerns paramount in mandating the implementation of CAS. The Indian cable TV industry is in full agreement with this intention of the government and promises to take all steps necessary to ensure that customer interests are kept as the primary focus. Regarding the issue of whether the problem of undeclaration will be resolved by CAS, he said that it is quite clear that the opponents have not appreciated the stringent provisions of the new section of the amended Cable Act. The amended provision mandates the operator to maintain full records and the government is entitled to verify the records at any time. Any act of omission will be a cognizable offence. Service tax on cable industry has been notified with effect from August 16 2002 and the service tax authorities are also entitled to inspect all records. They have already started surveys in Mumbai and Delhi. Talking about the issue of government fixing the rate of free to air channels he explained that it was actually a consumer friendly measure to help the consumer get free to air tv channels at the cheapest possible price. "We expect the average price to be about Rs. 100 and after deduction of Rs. 30 as entertainment tax; the balance left will be Rs. 70 for 35 channels which is the lowest in the world," he added. Regarding who will bear the cost of the set top box, he stated that the cable is a service industry like electricity or cellular mobile. The customer bears the cost of the electricity meter or the mobile instrument. Obviously the customer will bear the cost though the MSOs/cable operators can help source them cheaply through STB suppliers and banks. The cost of the subscriber management system and conditional access will naturally be borne by the cable operators/MSOs. Highlighting the pending action that need to be taken he stressed on the Indian cable TV industry requests' of an early action of the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting on the following issues:
He concluded his presentation saying that, " the challenges of CAS have to be met not only by the cable industry, but all the stake holders including broadcasters, government and even the consumer". |
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