CAS to be made mandatory in all metros soon

Media reports claim that the Indian government plans to make the conditional access system compulsory in all the metro cities in the coming months.

This would include the cable TV viewers in Delhi, Mumbai and Kolkata and the satellite towns of these metros. The satellite regions include New Bombay and Thane for Mumbai and Ghaziabad, Faridabad and Gurgaon for Delhi.

Market sources added that the cable operators and government officials have now agreed to mandatorily extend the Conditional Access Regime (CAS).

This could be bad news for the end customer as he would be required to pay around Rs. 2000 for the STB. Not many cable operators are offering the STBs on rental in the existing CAS implemented areas.

TRAI chairman Nripendra Misra had this to say: “This was a meeting to probe the issue. We will take a final decision after holding a couple of more meetings with MSOs, LCOs, broadcasters and consumer organizations. During the meet, stakeholders said they wanted CAS to be extended to the non-notified areas.”