The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) and Telecom Department’s tech arm Telecommunication Engineering Centre (TEC) have released a test guide document for conditional access systems (CAS) and subscriber management systems (SMS) for the broadcasting sector, which seeks to streamline two important aspects of the entertainment industry.

In order to address various issues arising out of deployment of non-standard CAS and SMS in the television broadcasting sector, the regulator had made amendments in the existing  rules in 2021.

In a statement, the regulator said for operationalization and oversight of the framework for CAS and SMS, it designated TEC as testing and certification agency, which has prepared a template after extensive consultation with stakeholders.

The release of the guide was held in the presence of Secretaries of MIB and Telecoms, Apurva Chandra and K. Rajaraman, respectively who spoke about the efforts of TRAI and TEC in the endeavour and its positive outcomes in the broadcasting sector.

Speaking on the occasion, TRAI chairman Dr. P.D. Vaghela, was quoted in the statement as saying, “The release of the Test Guide document is an important step in implementation of the requirements specified under Schedule-IX for technical compliance of CAS and SMS. The roll out of the testing and certification of CAS and SMS will succeed in achieving the desired benefits such as better content security, factual reporting of the subscriber base, reduce revenue loss, eventually leading to improved consumer experience.”

Representatives from the broadcast and cable industry, including major TV channels, distribution platform operators, expert bodies like C-DAC, STQC, BECIL and TEC participated in the event.