CAS to be extended to more cities

Even as consumers cope with problems relating to set-top boxes in parts of Delhi, Mumbai and Kolkata, the government has decided to extend the coverage of the conditional access system (CAS) to other cities in a phased manner.

CAS is a digital delivery system which gives subscribers freedom to choose and pay for channels of their choice.

Among the new cities to see implementation of CAS would be Ahmedabad, Bhopal, Pune, and Indore, and satellite towns of Noida and Gurgaon.

"Discussions on the matter are on and a comprehensive decision will be taken by the first week of February," Priyaranjan Das Munshi, minister for information and broadcasting, said at a press conference.

After orders from the Delhi High Court, CAS was rolled out in notified areas of Delhi, Mumbai and Kolkata on December 31 last year. The system has been under implementation in Chennai since 2003.

Implementation of CAS is in line with the government's plan to move towards digital mode of delivery from the current analogue mode of transmission.

Implementation of CAS has faced stiff opposition from consumers as well as some broadcasters. As a result, even its limited implementation in the metros (in southern areas considered affluent) has been postponed several times.

Many companies have taken the legal recourse against the tariffs they have been forced to charge by the regulator. In the first phase, about 5 million of the 65 million cable households have come under CAS. Direct to home (DTH) operators are trying to woo customers in CAS areas, citing better quality of delivery and broadcast.