Last mile cable operator may be incentivised

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New Delhi, June 30: The last mile cable operator will be incentivised for declaration and pushing the conditional access system (CAS) on a 50:50 revenue-sharing model from multi-system operators (MSOs) and broadcasters. These are among the suggestions given to the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) as a part of the proposed amendments to the Cable TV Networks (Regulation) Act, 1995.

Once accepted, the amendments will lead to over 20% growth in the pay-TV market in India, generating revenues to the tune of Rs 1,900 crore, industry sources said.

Among the suggestions submitted to Trai, MSOs and broadcasters have said that rewarding the last mile cable operator is the only way of curbing under-declaration. One suggestion said from the current numbers, the MSOs will share their revenues in 70:30 ratio moving to a 50:50 revenue-sharing scenario.

“For every 10% increase in declaration from cable operators, we will incentivise them equally till we reach an equal stage. This will bring down under-declaration heavily and will lead to a faster growth in the cable industry,” a leading MSO told FE.

It is estimated that if the declared subsriber numbers move up by 10%, the cable industry revenue would shoot-up by Rs 400-500 crore. While India’s cable services currently reach 62 million households, only 17-19 million account for a total revenue of Rs 1,500-1,600 crore. This is due to under-declaration of subscriber base by cable operators, broadcasters and MSOs have often levied this charge on the local cable operators.