Cable operators hail HC order on CAS

New Delhi, Mar 10 (UNI) The Cable Operators Federation of India(COFI) today welcomed the Delhi High Court order for implementation of the Conditional Access System (CAS) in all the four metros within four weeks, while the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting refused to make any immediate comment.

Sources in the Ministry said they are waiting for a copy of the court order, and will be able to say anthing in this regard only after going through details.

On the other hand, COFI president Roop Sharma hailed the order saying that it was in favour of viewers.

''Subscribers will now gave more choice of programmes while being able to regulate their bills,'' It was a much awaited order as the CAS has been stalled for three years, she added.

The High Court in its order asked the centre and Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) to comply with the order and said they would be fined Rs one lakh if there was any further delay in compliance.

The order said that, ''it was necessary in the interest of the public to protect the petitioner, as they had invested several crores of rupees in order to ensure smooth implementation of CAS.'' The order came on a petition filed by the Multiple Service Operators (MSOs) -- Hathway Communications, Indus India and Indian Cable Network (RPG) -- challenging the decision of the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting not to implement CAS despite recommendations from the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI).

The MSOs, in their petition, had said that implementation of CAS would drastically reduce the subscription charges paid by viewvers.

UNI NAZ VD HT1925