Ending all speculation surrounding the roll-out of conditional access system (CAS) in the country, the government on Tuesday gave in-principle approval to CAS extension in rest of Delhi, Mumbai and Kolkata, and subsequently in 55 cities in a phased manner as suggested by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai).

The CAS technology allows the consumers to pay for only the television channels they watch and is implemented through a set-top box.

The roll-out of CAS will bring down the average monthly cable bills of about 7.2 million consumers in the three metros by almost half to Rs 150-Rs 200 if all the consumers opt for the system.

CAS, which came into effect on January 1, 2007, is enforced in parts of the three metros.

According to sources, the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (I&B) today held a meeting between the representatives of the cable industry, broadcasters, consumer organisation and several state government officials, and said the roll-out will be done in phases.

"The cable industry's timeline of the CAS extension in the three metros by this November has been endorsed by Trai officials," A Mohan, vice-president, MSO Alliance, said.

MSO Alliance is the apex body of cable distribution companies, and was entrusted with the responsibility of making a detailed CAS roll-out plan in the country.

According to industry estimates, the cable industry will have to shell out about Rs 600 crore for CAS extension in rest of the three metros as it expects a demand of about 2.2 million set-top boxes that the cable industry will have to provide to its subscribers in the three metros.