Nearly 7 months ago (May 2002), the "Conditional Access System (CAS) Bill" was passed by the lower house of the Indian Parliament (Lok Sabha). This was followed by intense debates and dialogue between the major 'stakeholders', viz broadcasters, cable operators, ad agencies and the government.

After 4 months of parleying, the original bill was passed by the upper house (Rajya Sabha) on December 10, 2002 without any changes. The long awaited CAS bill is now law. And viewers will have to choose the channel(s) they want to watch and pay subscription fees accordingly.

While CAS is clearly the way to the future of Indian television, implementation is expected to be far from easy.
This is because of:
• Considerable investments by Cable Operators in systems & equipment
• Investments required by each Viewer in Set-top boxes
• Pricing & availability of Set-top boxes

The implementation of CAS in India is naturally expected to start with the top 4 metro cities of Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata & Chennai. Even within these cities, given the capital-intensive nature, CAS will be implemented in phases. As areas are 'CAS enabled' in stages, existing subscribers will be given the option to switch over to CAS, perhaps with a deadline. But finally, it is the subscribers' call to decide when (whether?) to invest in a Set-top box.

With each TV household being clearly addressable, CAS will bring in some interesting new concepts for marketers. Over a period of time, it will be possible to target individual households based on demographics (broad if not exact) & even narrow-cast commercials & offers to specific homes.

Read: Conditional Access System For The Indian Television Industry
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