The Hindu Business Line : Now, TRAI to deal with CAS issue

WILL the conditional access system (CAS) be deferred or not? Ask not the Government but the new regulator, the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI).

Even as the BJP-led NDA is preparing for an early general elections and the CAS fiasco sticks out as a sore thumb, the Information and Broadcasting (I&B) Ministry on Friday decided to vest the TRAI with powers to regulate the broadcasting sector.

Thus even as the much-hyped Communication Commission of India (CCI) has not seen the light of day, the telecom watchdog has emerged as the super-regulator with powers to monitor broadcasters, cable service providers and even radio.

And one of the first issues that the regulator would have to deal with is the future of CAS, which has been in the midst of controversy. While the system has been implemented in Chennai and in South Delhi, it has received very little public support. Also, the differences between the stakeholders — the cable service providers and the broadcasters — had made the rollout of the addressable system even more difficult. The I&B Ministry had, on the eve of the assembly elections in the five states, decided to defer the implementation of CAS in the Capital citing `political reasons'. But in future all decisions by the Government would be based on recommendations by the TRAI.

So the TRAI would look into the issue of set-top boxes (STBs); set the parameters for airtime in pay and free-to-air channels, regulate pay channel rates and regulate revenue sharing arrangements between the broadcasters and the cable service providers.

In order to facilitate growth and competition, the regulator would make recommendations on technological improvements; ensure compliance of terms and conditions of licence as in the case of uplinking; ensure technical compatibility and effective inter-connection between different service providers; and lay down the standards of quality of service to be provided by the service providers. To protect consumer interest and ensure the quality of service, it will conduct periodical survey of the service provided by service providers.

Interestingly, the notification does not indicate whether the TRAI would have the power to regulate content on either the television, cable or radio channels or not.

According to Mr Vinod Vaish, Secretary, Department of Telecommunications (DoT), the TRAI Act was amended in 2000 to include broadcasting under its purview.

The I&B Ministry, on its part, said that due to the emergence of new technologies such as direct-to-home broadcasting (DTH), head-end in the sky (HITS), the introduction of CAS, the need for a regulator was felt.

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