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CAS or DTH: decision is yours

Staff Reporter

Both will provide viewers digital quality pictures

NEW DELHI: Television viewing is all set to change forever this coming December 31 for lakhs of viewers living in South Delhi. And with no more than a week left for the much talked about Conditional Access System (CAS) to be rolled out, viewers need to decide soon between set-top boxes with their cable operators under CAS or the direct-to-home (DTH) facility.

"Viewers need to make up their minds between the two options. They must apply immediately. CAS will happen on December 31. We don't want people to wake up in the New Year and find that all their favourite channels have disappeared from their television screens,'' said a Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) official.

With most people still living in the hope that it will be a repeat of 2003 when CAS was withdrawn at the last minute, they are biding their time to take the big decision. Unlike the last time round, when viewers felt they were being forced to buy the set-top-box priced at Rs. 6,000, a regulatory framework has now been set up by TRAI. Empowering viewers, there are strict rules about the quality of service, the options offered by cable operators and, of course, also the new option of DTH.

"I don't know what to do. I don't like dealing with my cable operator. But I also don't know whether I should go for my own dish. So I still haven't decided and think I'll still wait,'' says Anu Halder, a resident of Safdarjung Enclave.

Confused about which is the better option, viewers often believe that DTH and the set-top boxes offered by their cable operators are "different'' technologies. However, the decision is not in equipment, clarify experts, but between a wired solution and a wireless one.

"Both will provide viewers digital quality pictures. The decision has to be based on the content both these options are offering you. The type of service offered as well as the price,'' pointed out a TRAI official.

While set-top boxes can be bought or rented for a nominal price per month from local cable operators, opting for DTH will cost close to Rs. 4,000 for the equipment and the installation charges. Set-top-boxes that have been rented out can be returned to the cable operator and the security deposit will be refunded.

"It is a myth that there will be a difference in quality between DTH and our picture. With CAS, viewers can choose the pay channels they want to watch. They have the option of a la carte, which they don't get with DTH. They have to pay to watch all the channels and can't choose which pay channel they would like to choose,'' says a Hathway official. Hathway has already installed over 40,000 set-top boxes in the city.

But DTH offers a whole new range of channels with Tata Sky claiming that it will show 110 channels and Dish TV pinning its number at 160. "The DTH option can be taken anywhere. There is a question of mobility. We are offering viewers more value-added services. They can choose more movies, better channels, and don't need to be bound by their cable operator,'' adds a DTH provider.

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