Consumer is still not clear about the proposed CAS and DTH. All the details appearing through media are confusing and are being sponsored by broadcasters to ensure that the proposed system does not get adverse publicity. Media is not concerned with the ordinary viewers' problems and they are not doing any independent study to know what is right and what is wrong. There are a number of house holds, which possess more than one T.V. sets in their houses and pay for single cable connection. It is not being made clear by media whether the new system would take care of such house holds. Or such house holders would have to purchase different Set top boxes and dish antenas. In the latter case, they will have to pay double or tripple of what they are paying now. In our country, every body knows how the big businessmen operate their businesses. It is still doubtful whether the service providers would be honest or they will behave like Cable operators, who are not less than goons. Ordinary viewer is not technically expert to understand all these intricacies. Let somebody clarify all these apprehensions.
RE:DTH
by Vikas Chugh on Sep 05, 2006 07:49 PM Permalink
You don't have to pay double subcription fees for 2 TV's. Tata Sky offers Rs. 100 subcription fees for Multi Room options i.e on 2nd /3rd and 4th TV you have to pay Rs. 100 per month only.
problem with DTH Dish/Tata Sky is that if you have more 1 TV in your home you will have to buy 2 dish and will have to pay double whereas in Cable Tv you can very well play more than 1 TV. Pls resolve this if any of you have answer.
RE:DTH/CAS
by Sandeep on Sep 05, 2006 04:44 PM Permalink
If you have more than one TV, then whatever option you use - CAS via STB or DTH, you will require more than one unit of the STB or DTH. You will have to fees to 2 parties for 2 units
RE:DTH/CAS
by niranjan on Sep 08, 2006 01:23 PM Permalink
You can connect 2 tvs at a time with DTH. Only the thing you can see the same channels on both tvs as fixed on set top box
I was in Chennai for a year. It is the only city which has a functional CAS system and it is a big fraud. The Cable operators do NOT rent out STBs. So, you ahve to purchase them. They are only available from thier retailer and may not work with cable operators from other areas/ cities. I suggest to opt for DTH, even if expensive, will be same machine any whre in India.
CAS Set top boxes do NOT have fiber optic as last mile connectivity! This is a misleading fact. The subscriber will still only get an ordinary cable wire terminated at their home. And most cable operators have dish antennas to subscribe to the channel providers. Hathway has an idea to provide OFC up to the last mile, though this has not been implemented, atleast in Chennai. But, overall, an informative and straightforward article. Cheers, Sai
the article is not clear in respect of the aspect of having cable connection. the CAS system is only for paid channels having cable connection subscribes. cas charges will be addition to the service charges of cable operator for providing free to air channels.having provided the cable to our door step the cable operators will take advantage of charging the present charges or more in the name of service charges for providing cable as their income will be restricted by CAS tariff.DTH will be out of perview of cable operators and hence requires some mechanism for fixing charges like CAS charges for the benefit of customers and freedom from cable operators.
According to calculations, under the CAS regime a subscriber would have to pay about Rs.250 a month to view 20 pay channels and all free-to-air channels. Nowadays, depending on the locality, a viewer pays around Rs.200 to view more than sixty (60) channels including all the free-to-air channels plus ALL the pay channels. At some point, you'd also have to consider the cost of the set top boxes. Therefore, contrary to what has been projected in the various reports including this one, implementation of CAS would make the total cost of cable TV viewing more expensive for the viewers.
