In a move to bring the broadcasters under further pressure, cable operators on Saturday announced that they would provide all channels, including the pay and free-to-air channels, to consumers at Rs 222 in the conditional access system regime, being introduced in the four metros on July 15.
An announcement to this effect was made at a press conference in New Delhi by independent cable operators and representatives of four multi-service providers. They said that the rates do not include the taxes.
Meanwhile, SitiCable announced an introductory offer of Rs 128 for all the pay channels post-CAS, thus pegging the total cost to consumers at Rs 200 plus taxes for a comprehensive pay and free-to-air package.
Thus, the consumer will have to pay Rs 128 in addition to the Rs 72 already decided for getting 60 free-to-air channels if he takes the SitiCable feed.
"SitiCable announces the introductory offer price of all pay channels at Rs 128 for CAS enabled subscriber. The subscriber will continue to get the service of about 60 FTA channels at Rs 72," executive vice president Rajiv Khattar said in a statement.
Meanwhile, its chief Jawahar Goel said the Zee bouquet, which will comprise 14 channels, has been priced at Rs 55 and that each Zee channel will cost a maximum of Rs 1.80 if taken individually.
"We are expecting the pay channels to fall in line with the government initiative and the need of the day. Any pay channel, which is not contributing towards smooth implementation of CAS will be taken off from the Siti Cable Network, as has been mandated by the government," Khattar added.
