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A way out of cable gridlock

Cable television has achieved tremendous growth over the past decade, giving subscribers access to a wide variety of channels, but technological roadblocks have limited its development in recent years. Analogue cable systems have reached the limits of carrying capacity, leaving operators and broadcasters with few options to add new channels. A way out of this problem is offered by digital cable, which enables a vastly higher number of channels and value added services to be piped into homes for viewing with the aid of set top boxes. The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India, which is also the broadcast regulator, has recognised the technological imperative and recommended a phased migration to digitalised cable by 2010, when the Commonwealth Games are to be held in New Delhi. Drawing the right lessons from the failed attempt to make the Conditional Access System (CAS) compulsory in 2003, TRAI has sensibly suggested that analogue systems should continue until operators and consumers are ready to adopt the digital option. That will happen sooner than later, because the cable sector is already on the path to digitalisation. Significantly, going beyond mere technology choices, TRAI has addressed the fundamental issues in the poorly-regulated cable sector and come up with changes needed to benefit both the industry and the consumer. While advocating mandatory licensing of digital service from April 2006, the regulator has recommended that licences be granted to all serious operators at a nominal fee.

TRAI has implicitly recognised, in its proposals, the prevailing lack of choice for cable television subscribers owing to a variety of factors including the emergence of virtual regional monopolies. The remedies it has suggested, starting with grant of licences on a non-exclusive basis, can potentially spur competition up to the last mile that touches consumers. There is also the welcome recognition that the Cable Television Networks (Regulation) Act has to be amended to give right of way for all licensees to lay cables and to end discrimination by operators against channels and content providers. The amended rules will bind public authorities to recognise the right of way of licensees and facilitate cabling; in the absence of such a provision, cable services are often severely restricted in their area of operations by vested interests, though they have deployed hardware to distribute digital channels. The proposal to enable multi-system operators to connect subscribers directly will also count among the list of positives in the TRAI list. For a 2006 launch of the digitalisation programme, the Centre needs to look urgently at the rationalisation of taxes and duties applicable to set top boxes, review the anomalous foreign direct investment levels in cable, DTH, telecom and internet sectors (all of which can offer television service through competing technologies) and bring about pro-consumer amendments to the Cable Television Networks (Regulation) Act.

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