The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) is looking forward to the opinions and views of the stakeholders on issues related to the regulatory framework of the soon to be released amended order for the TV and broadcasting sector. The move from the sector regulator comes a month before the deadline to implement these orders which are popularly known as NTO 2.0. TRAI has requested stakeholders to submit their views by May 30 and counter statements by June 6.
The Current Scenario
According to a report from ET Bureau, TRAI also happens to be the regulatory body for the broadcast sector and in a new consultation paper issued on Saturday, it has sought views on issues including the ceiling price of a la carte channels for inclusion in the bouquet, discounts given in the formation of the bouquet and discount offered by broadcasters to the distribution platform operators (DPOs). TRAI in a statement informed that it had received representations from the DPOs, associations of local cable operators (LCOs) and consumer organisations as soon as the new tariff orders were announced. It added that DPOs made it aware of the problematic circumstances that would arise because of the implementation of the new rates in the system. Moreover, it would also be difficult to migrate customers to the new tariff regime through the informed exercise of options impacting almost all bouquets. For an easy passage forward, TRAI also created a committee to handle issues related to the implantation of the new tariff order which included members from the Indian Broadcasting and Digital Foundation, All India Digital Cable Federation and DTH Association. TRAI stated that this committee was formed to facilitate discussions among various stakeholders to come out on a common agreed path for smooth implementation of the new tariff order. This committee presented several issues for consideration as informed by the regulatory body. Although, the stakeholders sought priority from TRAI on dealing with critical issues which could create impediments for the smooth implementation of the tariff order. And to tackle these issues, TRAI is now issuing this consultation paper for seeking stakeholders’ comments.
