Category: Regulators

TRAI wants spectrum cap revised to 35 per cent

NEW DELHI: The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has suggested the revision of overall spectrum cap from the current limit of 25 per cent to touch 35 per cent.

In its responses to the paper ‘Issues relating to spectrum cap’, TRAI said that there should be a cap of 50 per cent on the combined spectrum holding in the sub-1 GHz bands (700 MHz, 800 MHz and 900 MHz bands) instead of the intra-cap band which it suggests removing.

The government recently constituted an inter-ministerial group (IMG) on ‘Stress in balance sheet in select sectors’. The IMG, among others, reviewed the spectrumcap applicable for telecom service providers (TSPs). IMG, in its report, stated that the issue of spectrum cap merits detailed examination and variety inputs from sectoral regulators. In light of IMG report, DoT, on 29 September 2017 requested TRAI to provide its views on spectrum cap.

Presently, there is a cap of 25 per cent of the total spectrum assigned in 700/800/900/1800/2100/2300/2500 MHz bands and 50 per cent within a given band in each of the service area.

The authority sought comments of the telecom service providers and took note of the following:

• Overall spectrum cap of 25 per cent was imposed at a time when there were 6-10 TSPs in a local service area (LSA). After the ongoing consolidation in the sector, the number of TSPs in a LSA may be much less.

• The spectrum being assigned through auction is a liberalised spectrum. At present, more than 80 per cent of the spectrum held by various service providers is liberalised spectrum wherein they can use any technology of their choice in any band or using multiple bands.

• As LTE device ecosystem is evolving in each of the spectrum band, there is no real need to put spectrum cap in each spectrum band. In fact, asking a TSP to acquire spectrum in different band to deploy the same technology increase the cost of network with no real gains.

• Sub-1 GHz bands are perceived as the most optimal bands to ensure availability of wireless broadband services over large areas with low population density. Therefore, spectrum in sub-1 GHz range – 700 MHz, 800 MHz and 900 MHz should be treated separately and special provisions have to be made to safeguard against creation of monopoly

November 24, 2017
TRAI landing page norms stayed till 22 December 2017

NEW DELHI: The direction on landing page norms issued by the Telecom Regulatory Authority (TRAI) of India has been stayed till 22 December 2017 following an appeal in the Telecom Disputes Settlement and Appellate Tribunal (TDSAT).

Even as the tribunal admitted the petitions for hearing, it said: “Since there is a prayer for stay of the impugned direction dated 8 November 2017 issued by TRAI, let the matter be listed on 22 December 2017 under the head “for orders” to consider that prayer in light of the reply of the respondent.”

“Till then, the impugned direction shall not be given effect to,” it added further.

Chairman Shiva Keerti Singh and members B B Srivastava and A K Bhargava gave TRAI two weeks’ time for filing the reply. Further time of two weeks is granted to the appellants to file the rejoinder.

On November 8, TRAI had issued a direction to all broadcasters and distributors of television channels to not place any registered satellite television channel. TRAI had said the orders would be implemented within 15 days.

The direction was challenged in TDSAT by Bennett Coleman and Company Limited (BCCL), Den Networks Limited (Den), All India Digital Cable Federation (AIDCF), Fastway Transmission Private Limited, and Satellite Channels Private Limited.

Den has appealed that the “impugned direction issued by the respondent, Telecom Regulatory Authority of India, are beyond the jurisdiction of the authority as given to it under TRAI Act.” It further said that the TRAI direction was curtailing the “freedom of the distributor of TV channels to position the channels over their network”.

TRAI had said in its November 8 direction that it had been repeatedly brought to the authority’s attention by various stakeholders that satellite TV channels are placed on the landing page and this practise was influencing the television audience measurements/television ratings.

TRAI in its direction had also concluded that “this practice may affect the orderly growth of the sector and is against the spirit of the policy guidelines for TV rating agencies.”

Also read:

TRAI tightens landing-page norms

November 23, 2017
Former I&B minister Priya Ranjan Dasmunsi passes away

NEW DELHI: Former Information and Broadcasting (I&B) minister Priya Ranjan Dasmunsi, who took several unpopular decisions during his tenure, died after being in a coma since 2008. He was 72.

He had suffered a massive stroke in 2008 leaving him paralysed and unable to speak and lapsed into a coma during treatment. He had been critically ill over the past month, according to the Apollo hospital, and died at 12.10 pm on 20 November.

As I&B minister during the first term of the Manmohan Singh-led government from 2004-2008, Dasmunsi was instrumental in passing a law in 2007 which resulted in all broadcasters holding rights to sporting events having to forcibly share signals with Prasar Bharati. His term also saw several bans on western television networks, including a three-month ban on the Sony-owned television network AXN and Fashion TV following the broadcast of programs deemed “obscene” by him.

In 2006, Dasmunsi was the first Indian to be a match commissioner in a FIFA World Cup game between Australia and Croatia. He was heading the Indian football governing body at the time of his stroke in 2008, which led to Praful Patel taking over as president. Dasmunsi served as the president of the All India Football Federation for almost 20 years.

November 20, 2017
M&E items get GST relief from 15 November 2017

NEW DELHI: In a major relief to the media and entertainment (M&E) sector, the goods and services tax (GST) has been slashed on a large number of items including electrical apparatus for radio and television broadcasting from 28 per cent to 18 per cent.

Although the government has failed to address the primary issue of entertainment tax which is a great dampener in view of the losses due to video piracy, the reliefs announced are a winner. The change in taxation is effective from midnight of 15 November 2017.

In its last meeting held in Guwahati in Assam, the GST council under the chairmanship of finance minister Arun Jaitley agreed to cut the GST on several items in the M&E sector.

Goods on which the council had recommended reduction of GST rate from 28 per cent to 18 per cent in the M&E sector are:

1. Electrical apparatus for radio and television broadcasting

2. Sound recording or reproducing apparatus

3. All musical instruments and their parts

4. Cinematographic cameras and projectors, and image projector.

The cable TV sector may also get some relief as the relaxation also covers:

5. Wire, cables, insulated conductors, electrical insulators, electrical plugs, switches, sockets, fuses, relays, electrical connectors

6. Electrical boards, panels, consoles, cabinets etc for electric control or distribution

Apart from this, the council announced exemption from IGST/GST in temporary import of professional equipment by accredited press persons visiting India to cover certain events, broadcasting equipment, sports items, testing equipment, under ATA carnet system. These goods are to be re-exported after the specified use is over.

The council also said that in order to obviate dispute and litigation, it is proposed that irrespective of whether permanent transfer of Intellectual Property (IP) is a supply of goods or service:

(i) permanent transfer of IP other than Information Technology software attracts GST at the rate of 12 per cent.

(ii) permanent transfer of IP in respect of Information Technology software attracts GST at the rate of 18 per cent.

November 13, 2017
Aug-17:Jio leads broadband subscriber growth, BSNL leads wireline subscriber decline

BENGALURU: India’s broadband subscriber base grew 1.81 percent in the month of August 2017 (Aug-17) by 5.61 million to 316.48 million from 310.87 million at the end of July 2017 (Jul-17). The growth was led by the Mukesh Ambani-led unstoppable juggernaut Reliance Jio Infocomm Limited (Jio), which added 4.1 million new subscribers in August 2017 to take its subscriber base to a staggering 132.68 million. At the same time, the government’s Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) reported a loss of 60,000 wireline internet subscribers – to take its wireline subscriber base to 9.60 million from 9.66 million in the previous month. Overall, wireless subscriber numbers grew, while wireline and fixed wireless subscriber numbers continued to decline in Aug-17 as compared to the numbers reported for Jul-17.

As per data published by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI), the top five service broadband internet service providers (across all platforms – wireless, wireline, fixed wireless (Wi-Fi, Wi-Max, Point-to- Point Radio & VSAT) constituted 90.85 percent market share of the total broadband subscribers at the end of Aug-17. These service providers were Jio (132.68 million), Bharti Airtel (60.14 million), Vodafone (43.56 million), Idea Cellular (29.46 million) and BSNL (21.69 million).

Wireless Broadband Internet Subscribers

As mentioned above, Jio still continued to lead growth in wireless broadband internet subscribers in the country eleven months after its commercial launch on 5 September 2016. Jio has added 60.52 million subscribers in calendar year 2017 (CY-17) until Aug-17.

The top five wireless broadband service providers were Jio (132.68 million), Bharti Airtel (58.03 million), Vodafone (43.55 million), Idea Cellular (29.46 million) and Reliance Communications (10.87 million).

Wired Broadband Internet Subscribers

The top five wired broadband srvice providers were BSNL (9.60 million), Bharti Airtel (2.11 million), Atria Convergence Technologies or ACT (1.24 million), MTNL (0.96 million) and You Broadband (0.66 million).

ACT Broadband, probably the largest private wired internet service player in South India, continued to lead subscriber acquisitions in calendar year 2017 (CY-17, since 31 December 2016 or Dec-16) to Aug-17 with the addition of about 0.12 million broadband internet subscribers. Airtel has added around 70,000 wireline broadband internet service providers in CY-17 until Aug-17.

As per TRAI data, the broadband wireline subscriber base in India declined in Aug-17 to 18.10 million from 18.40 million in Jul-17. Among the top five wireline broadband internet services providers in the country, BSNL and MTNL lost 60,000 and 10,000 subscribers respectively in the month of Aug-17. Airtel, the second largest wireline broadband internet player and ACT, reported a gain of 10,000 subscribers each and You Broadband reported a steady subscriber base of 0.66 million. This implies that the other wireline broadband internet service providers in the country besides those mentioned above gained 0.2 million subscribers in the month of Aug-17. Amongst the other wireline broadband internet service providers are multi-system operators and local cable operators that provide internet services through their video cables using technology that includes various versions of DOCSIS technology.

November 10, 2017
TRAI tightens landing-page norms

MUMBAI: Distributors of television channels, according to a directive issued by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI), have been restrained from placing any registered satellite television channel whose TV rating is released by a TV rating agency on the boot-up screen or the landing channel.

Broadcasters and distributors are required to comply with the direction within fifteen days.

The landing channel or the logical channel number (LCN) is first displayed when the set-top box is switched on. The landing channel, or page, is normally used by the distributor of television channels for providing information to consumers and promotion of its distribution platforms.

In the recent past, however, a number of representations from stakeholders have been received stating that the landing page has the potential to affect the viewership data of that channel and, therefore, it is susceptible to influence the television audience measurement ratings.

Placing of a channel on the landing page is the issue relating to interconnectivity between the broadcaster and the distributor of the television channel.

The regulator, on examination of the issue, reached the conclusion that placement of any registered TV channel, whose rating is released by a TV ratings agency, on the landing page may affect orderly growth of the sector and is against the spirit of the policy guidelines for such agencies.

November 8, 2017
TRAI pushes DTH cos for BHIM & Bharat QR payments

NEW DELHI: The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has asked direct to home operators (DTH) to enable digital payments via BHIM/UPI and Bharat QR code by onboarding billers on the Bharat Bill Payment System and print the QR code on DTH bills.

The TRAI also said that DTH operators should enable at least two ofthe following options in all physical payment receipt counters:

• Pull request through mobile number virtual payment address (VPA) wherein a request of bill amount is received on BHIM/ UPI enabled app of the customer.

• Prominent display of printed static Bharat QR code on the billing counter to enable customer to scan and pay.

• Dynamic Bharat QR code on a display facing the customer.

They have also been asked to provide a visible discount to encourage digital payment over cash and hold campaigns to promote it. “The government is making efforts for promoting a less cash economy and digital payments in various utilities. To achieve this, the government is working with multiple stakeholders for promotion of digital payments,” it said.

November 8, 2017
MIB, TRAI allay industry fears on sat capacity leasing & content regulations

MACAU: Indian government officials on Tuesday used an international platform of CASBAA Convention 2017 here to allay some of the industry fears on regulatory challenges involving satellite capacity leasing on foreign satellites and possible content regulations, while stating the country strives to be vibrant, living up to PM Modi’s stated policy of ease of doing business.

“The improvement in India’s ease of doing business global ranking to 100 is not just eyewash. It represents real changes,” Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (MIB) secretary NK Sinha said here, adding that though general talks with the department of space and Indian space agency ISRO were continuing to ease policy restrictions for Indian customers to lease capacity on foreign satellites, a meeting on some specific issues were yet to take place.

“Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s mantra is perform, reform, transform,” Sinha said stressing on the message that efforts were on to remove bottlenecks to doing business in India’s thriving broadcast and cable sectors and that technology was critical for both communications and content.

Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) chairman RS Sharma chipped in to state the regulatory body had recommended to the government to adopt an open sky policy. “These (ISRO issues) are not issues of principle, but of operation,” he added.

“The issue also affects broadband provision. To ensure affordable broadband in rural areas, India will need to use satellites to provide this (service),” Sharma elaborated, adding that TRAI was presently studying stakeholders’ comments on its consultation paper on ease of doing business in the broadcast sector “to resolve the matters raised” by the industry.

The two top Indian regulatory officials involved in matters of broadcast and media were responding to a question from the audience on whether they were aware that it was increasingly becoming challenging for Indian customers (like broadcasters, Vsat and teleport operators, for example) to lease capacity on foreign satellites in the wake of a maze of clearances and paperwork sought by ISRO.

It must be clarified here that though TRAI has been repeatedly suggesting an open sky policy related to satellite capacities (both C and KU bands), the nodal ministry governing ISRO was yet to take an official stand on the regulatory body’s recommendations.

In what would — or could — bring smiles on the faces of many in the Indian broadcast and content business, the top MIB official also batted for self-regulation as a way forward, hinting that irresponsible behavior from stakeholders, however, would not be tolerated.

“Happy with (present) self /co-regulation. Future will be self-regulation. The volume of content is going to explode exponentially. It will not be possible to pre-check each bit of data (but) citizens must be responsive and responsible,” Sinha said responding to another audience query on whether the government proposed to bring in a content regulatory body.

At present, both the News Broadcasters Association and Indian Broadcasting Foundation have frameworks for self-regulation governing their member-companies. However, there are many out of the 800+ licensed TV channels that are not members of these industry organisations.

He further pointed out that there needs to be a mechanism to ensure self-regulation comes back on track if it “strays”, though “pre-certification” didn’t look to be the future.

Earlier speaking at a session themed `View From India’ on Tuesday, both Sinha and Sharma gave a snapshot of the Indian broadcast and media industry to a primarily international and Indian audience at the ongoing three-day CASBAA Convention 2017 here. They highlighted that India thrives as the second largest TV market with 183 million TVHH, 900 TV channels, 310 FM radio stations, 60,000 LCOs, 1,500 MSOs, 360 broadcasters, expanding reach of Doordarshan’s FTA DTH service, multiple DTH platforms, one HITS and several IPTV platforms, apart from OTT services.

The chief of TRAI, which regulates the carriage and tariff segments of the broadcast sector and delivery platforms, in his address said the industry had grown at the rate of 15 per cent CAGR for the last five years and is projected to grow a shade less at 14 per cent for the next five years.

While skirting a direct reference to TRAI’s new tariff regime for the broadcast and cable sectors being legally challenged by some industry players and presently being debated in Indian courts, Sharma mentioned the regulatory body had announced a framework that was “fair, transparent and non-discriminatory”.

“Centralised distribution audits will ensure all broadcasters get audit information. This will reduce the burden on distributors and broadcasters,” he highlighted as an example of its regulatory fairness vis-a-vis multiple audits of customers being presently done draining human and financial resources of stakeholders.

Dwelling on the ambitious multi-million Indian rupee national fibre optic network project or Bharat Net, Sharma said it was now a public-private venture not only for broadband, but also for delivering TV services. “Come, analyse and invest in the Indian broadcast sector,” he exhorted the global investment and media community.

ALSO READ:

MIB reverts to earlier norms of seeking nod from ISRO on uplink/downlink of TV channels

MIB secy Sinha, Viacom18 CEO Vats to speak at CASBAA convention in Nov

November 8, 2017
Prasar Bharati gears up to mark 20th anniversary

NEW DELHI: Celebrating its 20-year anniversary, Prasar Bharati is conducting jingle and short film competitions for current and former employees. People have to send their nominations by 10 November.

This year is also important as Prasar Bharati has for the first time shifted to its own premises, adjoining Doordarshan in Copernicus Marg in New Delhi. Until now, it had been a tenant in the PTI Building on Sansad Marg (Parliament Street), just opposite Parliament House Annexe.

A statutory autonomous body established under the Prasar Bharati Act 1990, it came into existence on 23 November 1997.

Prasar Bharati had been conceived as a trust known as Akash Bharati in the report prepared by a committee headed by the late renowned mediaperson B G Verghese in 1978 focused on autonomy for broadcasting in India.

After Prasar Bharati came into formation, both All India Radio and Doordarshan came under its ambit. These public service broadcasters had till then functioned as media units under the Ministry of I&B.

November 3, 2017
SC tells DD to air show warning about Blue Whale

NEW DELHI: Amidst reports of suicides reportedly caused by the Blue Whale online game, public broadcaster Doordarshan has been asked by the Supreme Court to conceive and air a cautionary and educational programme on its dangers.

DD was given a week’s time to prepare the programme that should be of at least ten minutes and should be telecast at prime time.

A bench headed by chief justice Dipak Misra with justices DY Chandrachud and AM Khanwilkar said, “Anything that threatens life should be condemned.” The case by a 73-year old Chennai advocate N S Ponnaiah has been posted for further hearing on 15 November 2017.

“Suffice to say that the Blue Whale game is dangerous to life. What endangers life has to be condemned and not allowed,” Misra observed.

The court asked DD to script the programme in consultation with the Ministries of Home Affairs, Women and Child Welfare Department, Human Resource and Development and Information Broadcasting, and Information Technology.

The court also directed the government to see to it that private channels also telecast the programme.

“The idea behind the programme is to make parents and children aware of the dangers of online games like Blue Whale. The message of the programme should be that children should not be trapped by the game. There are children who are lonely and frustrated. Definitely visuals will have more impact,” Chief Justice Misra said.

According to additional solicitor general PS Narasimha, a committee constituted by the Ministry of Information Technology found that around 28 cases have been traced to have links with Blue Whale game. A probe was on and a complete picture of the extent and means of the game would be ascertained in the next three weeks.

The Centre was determined to “stop the game”, which has the potentiality to destroy life. The government had communicated to many agencies and online platforms to check and inform on the availability and use of the game.

The commission has told school authorities to thoroughly verify the background of teachers and non-teaching staff before hiring them.

The Blue Whale challenge is a game created by Russian national Philipp Budeikin, 22, in which a set of instructions tell the players to harm themselves and eventually commit suicide. Budeikin is now in jail.

October 30, 2017