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DELHI: The government is likely to revert to the Delhi High Court with a status
report on CAS' rollout early next week even as the Indian Broadcasting Foundation
(IBF) has raised several queries on addressability's efficacy. "A senior official of
the information and broadcasting ministry admitted that it has to go back to the
court with a feedback on CAS, but said it's timing is still not clear. "One
month for us would be calculated from the day we received a certified copy of
the court order. As on 10 March, a verbal order was passed," the official
said. Still, the official also
added that the court would have to be apprised of
the progress on CAS front
and "it would be done." With diverse signals emanating from the industry
stakeholders, the government is slightly confused, the official said. However,
the deluge of facts and figures relating to CAS and various time lines proposed
by stakeholders also gives the government some breathing space. On 10 March,
the Delhi High Court directed the government to implement CAS in Kolkata, Delhi
and Mumbai within a month's time. The judgment came on a petition filed by some
MSOs, including INCablenet and Hathway. While a large section of the cable
fraternity has been pushing for quick
implementation of CAS, a section of
broadcasters and consumer organisations want a certain comfort level before CAS
is rolled out.
IBF AGAINST PRICE CONTROL UNDER CAS Meanwhile,
the IBF in a submission to the government has said that there should not be any
price control in a CAS-enabled regime and the issue of piracy should be addressed
as a priority. "Under the Trai (sector regulator) recommendations to
government for CAS implementation, presented on 1 October, 2004, it was recommended
that there should be no price control in addressable markets. In view of this,
we believe that for CAS notified areas, there should be no price fixation,"
the IBF letter states setting the cat amongst the pigeons (read the cable operators). The
letter, a copy of which is available with Indiantelevision.com, drops broad hints
that pay broadcasters would not give a la carte price for consumers --- something
that has been in demand for over a year now during confabulations on CAS. "Broadcasters
are whole sellers to cable operators as the consumer price for cable TV is fixed
by the operators," IBF has said, adding all pending litigations and outstanding
dues involving the cable industry must be resolved before CAS is rolled out. Hinting
that the claims of MSOs and cable ops on availability of set-top boxes might be
exaggerated, the IBF goes on to state that effective steps should be taken to
ensure that in the notified areas, adequate number of boxes is available with
MSOs and last mile operators to cater to the demand. "There should
be no instance that consumers want to install STBs and
MSOs/LCOs are unable
to provide them. MSOs/LCOs would also need to ensure that there is proper coordination
between them and their LCOs. The MSOs/LCOs should provide a detailed STB implementation
plan," the IBF letter says. The broadcasters have also urged the government
to ban carriage fee, which is demanded by cable operators and also given by most
major broadcasters whether free to air or pay. "The IBF members are
of the view that the government should make sure that cable operators not demand
carriage fee from the broadcasters… in view of the fact that they collect
subscription revenue from the subscribers," the letter states. Another
point raised by the IBF is that since CAS is being mandated by the government,
unlike in other countries where market forces bring about its rollout, other addressable
systems like DTH, IPTV and broadband should also be similarly mandated to create
"a level playing field" for those platforms.
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