Our take...
There was a lack of transparency at the 'last mile' owned by 30,000 or so local cable operators across India. The introduction of conditional access was first mooted in 2001, followed quickly by a furore over charge hikes by channels and subsequently cable operators. It was then decided that it would first be introduced in the four metro areas. The roll-out of CA will become mandatory in 57 Indian cities, phased between January 2008 and March 2011. At present, conditional access is operational in parts of Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata and Chennai. With the introduction of conditional access, subscribers need only pay for channels that they want to watch, through a set-top box that is required to watch only pay channels, not free-to-air channels like Doordarshan. However, it is estimated that only 25 per cent of the people have subscribed to the new technology. The rest watch only free-to-air channels. Set-top boxes cost Rs 3,000-Rs 3,500 for analogue and Rs 5,500-Rs 7,000 for digital ones. The high cost of cable services with set-tops has led to the loss of customers from DTH services.

However, the broadcasting industry in general will benefit from conditional access eventually. It will allow a clear count of total cable household and paying customers and based on the latter cable operators can price its channels sensibly. Broadcasters will be able to record extrent of viewing of their channels, which would also benefit advertisers with a clear indicator of programme popularity. The government's tax system for cable operators would be streamlined as the subscriber base and charges would be clearly determined.