[icernet] What Will You Do Post-CAS?

[Arul Selvan]

The government has not yet talked about open-architecture of STBs in 
case of CAS as it has done with its Direct To Home (DTH) broadcast 
policy. Following this, different multi-service operators (MSOs) across 
the country like Siti Cable, InCable, Win Cable, Home Cable and RPG are 
using different software platforms for CAS. And the MSOs are the prime 
providers of the STBs. Initially, they will distribute the STBs through 
their last-mile franchisee cable operators, who will then sell or rent 
out the STBs to end users. The government is also insisting that the 
MSOs last-mile local operators will be responsible for the maintenance 
and servicing of the STBs within each individual house.

With less than a month to go before CAS falls into place, local cable 
operators are still not exactly nimble-footed in pushing through the 
sales of STBs. Though some MSOs have already announced their individual 
prices and rental schemes for STBs, the local cable operators are 
showing little enthusiasm about picking up the stocks and selling them 
to end customers pending price announcements by individual pay channels.

Source:
http://www.financialexpress.com/fe_full_story.php?content_id=36233