No bar on acquiring set-top boxes: Trai

Broadcasting regulator Telecom Regulatory Authority of India said there was no bar on people who wanted to purchase set-top boxes in CAS areas but the service should be priced at the rate charged from CAS households in the vicinity.

"If a consumer wants to buy a set-top box and watch pay channels in a CAS area, he should be charged the amount, which the next household in the same vicinity, already having the STB is paying," Trai chairman Pradip Baijal said here.

Baijal said the consultation paper Trai released last week had freezed the rates at the December 26 levels and "that is what a new CAS consumer should be paying". The regulator has asked for views on matters related to CASfrom the public, the Centre and states.