| The meeting, to be held in the capital, will see big
MSOs like Hathway, InCableNet, RPG, Sumangali and SitiCable, among
others, in attendance.
At stake here is a huge amount of investment that have gone into
not just the purchase of set top boxes, but also the costs of headend
upgrades to digital and the installation of subscriber management
systems that were the key to introducing addressability into the
cable broadcast business.
The government notification followed a recommendation made by the
telecom Regulatory authority on Monday (23 February) that the 10
July 2003 notification on CAS in the country be either denotified
or kept in abeyance for a period of three months.
The immediate issue for the MSOs is what is to be done about the
80,000 or so set top boxes that had already been sold outright or
rented out in places like South Delhi and Chennai. In South Delhi,
about 40,000 boxes are estimated to have been seeded thus far while
in Chennai 33,000 boxes have been seeded, industry sources say.
There is also the problem of the set tops lying with the MSOs expecting
an increase in offtake in the run-up to the India-Pakistan cricket
series.
As far as the course of action is concerned, one likely route would
be the legal one. The MSOs have a strong case because the investments
they made in infrastructure were under specific order from the information
and broadcasting ministry. The I&B ministry had initially said
that CAS should be implemented by 1 September, 2003.
And while the MSOs may still be reeling, the lower end of the cable
business - the last mile operators - are not so unhappy.
The Chennai-based federation of Cable Operators has welcomed the
notification. According to association president V. Venkatesan,
the suspension of CAS has not come a moment too soon, what with
the India-Pakistan cricket tour around the corner.
There is also the other side to this that the cable ops in Chennai
can now hike up the rates across the Southern Indian city to what
they were before CAS became effective (1 September).
As for the MSOs they are truely caught in a cleft stick. The Trai
orders that cable prices be frozen at levels that existed as of
26 December 2004 coupled to the rider that this does preclude broadcasters
from demanding increases in the subscription base has the MSOs in
a bind. The last mile operators are unlikely to accede to any pressure
to increase declarations and remain deeply suspicious of both MSOs
and broadcasters. The broadcasters will be putting the squeeze on
MSOs to increase connectivity.
One broadcaster in particular which will be working overtime to
ramp up its paid points is Ten Sports. The fact that it has exclusive
rights to the India-Pakistan cricket series offers it the best possible
chance to increase its declared subscriber base.
Also Read:
Government
denotifies CAS 'indefinitely'
Trai
recommends CAS suspension for 3 months
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