The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has released an amendment to interconnection regulations of 2017 which provides for a framework for technical compliance of conditional access system (CAS) and subscriber management system (SMS) for the broadcasting and cable sector. The framework is incorporated as schedule IX in the Interconnection Regulations, 2017. The operationalisation and oversight of the framework shall be carried out throughout a testing and certification agency, which shall be prescribed by the authority later.
The TRAI said the technical framework is the first step to define an indigenous set of specifications in line with international standards, and it is expected to bring several important benefits to the television broadcasting sector as well as the consumers. It said a tightly synchronized working of the CAS and SMS, as specified by the framework will enable factual reporting of subscriber base etc.
This will reduce the revenue loss to stakeholders on account of erroneous subscription reporting. It added better assurance of due revenue, in turn, may encourage the stakeholders to invest for further improvement in quality of content and service thereby benefiting the end consumers. The technical framework will usher in better content security in the distribution value chain.