Conditional Access System
Introduction
THE cable TV industry in India started off without any legitimacy, when the Gulf War was at its peak. After that, it expanded rapidly, when businesses realised the huge earnings potential of a service — entertainment —, which rarely gets affected by economic factors. With time, the government stepped in to regularise the industry and enacted the Cable TV Networks Regulation Act in 1995.
The Cable TV Networks Regulation Act in 1995 was a hurriedly drafted Bill and lacked several important elements.
The Cable TV consumer rates have gone up 30-40 per cent whereas the inflation is only about 2 per cent.
The Amendment Bill, called the Conditional Access System Bill, was introduced to keep some check on the regularly escalating cable subscription rates. Though this solution could hardly be called effective, at least it gave the government a means to keep tabs on the premium tier. Though the CAS would mean that the households pay more than what they are now paying and the government would prescribe from time to time as to which and how many channels would form a part of the basic tier, it would at least give the consumer the choice to pay for only the channels he/she wishes to watch.
The CAS Bill is a beginning to bring about some sort of regulation to the cable TV industry — a step in the right direction.
The Cable Television Network Amendment Bill 2002 was unanimously passed in the Rajya Sabha on Tuesday, to enable introduction of the conditional access system (CAS) in the country. CAS or the addressability system is all about making set-top box mandatory for viewing pay channels.
CAS, which stands for Conditional Access System, is a technology that allows the cable operator to provide selected channels to a subscriber.
Or, looked from another angle, CAS allows the viewer to select the channel(s) of his choice.
CAS is also referred to as an "addressable system". The purposes of introducing CAS are many, but the chief purpose is, or should
THE cable TV industry in India started off without any legitimacy, when the Gulf War was at its peak. After that, it expanded rapidly, when businesses realised the huge earnings potential of a service — entertainment —, which rarely gets affected by economic factors. With time, the government stepped in to regularise the industry and enacted the Cable TV Networks Regulation Act in 1995.
The Cable TV Networks Regulation Act in 1995 was a hurriedly drafted Bill and lacked several important elements.
The Cable TV consumer rates have gone up 30-40 per cent whereas the inflation is only about 2 per cent.
The Amendment Bill, called the Conditional Access System Bill, was introduced to keep some check on the regularly escalating cable subscription rates. Though this solution could hardly be called effective, at least it gave the government a means to keep tabs on the premium tier. Though the CAS would mean that the households pay more than what they are now paying and the government would prescribe from time to time as to which and how many channels would form a part of the basic tier, it would at least give the consumer the choice to pay for only the channels he/she wishes to watch.
The CAS Bill is a beginning to bring about some sort of regulation to the cable TV industry — a step in the right direction.
The Cable Television Network Amendment Bill 2002 was unanimously passed in the Rajya Sabha on Tuesday, to enable introduction of the conditional access system (CAS) in the country. CAS or the addressability system is all about making set-top box mandatory for viewing pay channels.
CAS, which stands for Conditional Access System, is a technology that allows the cable operator to provide selected channels to a subscriber.
Or, looked from another angle, CAS allows the viewer to select the channel(s) of his choice.
CAS is also referred to as an "addressable system". The purposes of introducing CAS are many, but the chief purpose is, or should