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Category: Regulators

  • TRAI draft tariff order skewed in favour of DPOs, will harm industry: IBF

    TRAI draft tariff order skewed in favour of DPOs, will harm industry: IBF

    NEW DELHI: The Indian Broadcasting Foundation (IBF), an apex body of broadcasting companies, has criticised sector regulator TRAI for over-regulating and proposing draft guidelines on tariff and interconnection that are skewed in favour of distribution platform operators (DPOs).

    Responding to Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) draft orders relating to tariff, inter-connections and quality of service, IBF said the new regime will lead to “de-growth” of the industry and discourage investments and production of good quality content in the television industry.

    Pointing out that the proposed regulatory regime “regresses rather than advances”, IBF in a lengthy reply has said with over 830 channels for consumers to choose from and a large pubcaster offering of over 100 private and public TV channels, whether there a “need to regulate all aspects of a set of 200 odd pay TV channels”.

    “The question for the Authority would be, is there proven evidence of market failure that a dire need has arisen to over-regulate these 200 odd pay TV channels(?). We are of the firm belief that there is no compelling reason to regulate these channels and, accordingly, only a light touch regulation, if at all, ought to have been proposed,” IBF has submitted justifying its criticism of  draft  guidelines.

    Contending that pay TV channels (read cable and DTH services) were not essential services IBF counters there was no compelling reason to regulate these channels. “The present tariff order is based on the ‘erroneous premise’ that pay TV channels are essential services,” the broadcasting industry body said.

    Citing international copyrights and IPR laws, IBF pointed out that whole exercise undertaken by TRAI was in direct conflict with the provisions of the Indian Copyright Act, 1957.

    According to IBF, the proposed tariff and inter-connect orders conflict with the Copyright Act in the following ways and need to be “harmonised”:

    a.       The proposed tariff order(s) that impose restrictions on nature of content, prices of channels, mandated discount caps and commissions, manner of offering, etc have to be reviewed and modified in the light of specific copyright laws providing freedom to broadcast organisations to charge royalties and any other consideration/fees for their works and BRR in accordance with the market demands and contract laws.

    b.      The draft interconnect regulations issued by TRAI that take away the broadcast organisations’ exclusive rights to deal and imposes restrictions on their contractual abilities and takes away their ability to negotiate the terms of trade need to be reviewed and modified to harmonise the same with the provisions of the Copyright Act pertaining to voluntary licensing and assignments by Broadcast Organisations by permitting mutual negotiations.

    c.       The existing commercial tariff orders and regulations issued by TRAI in relation to commercial establishments is also at odds with copyright laws in as much as the Copyright Act clearly provides broadcast organisations the right to charge differential rates of royalties and license fees on commercial establishments vis-a-vis domestic/residential subscribers.

    Going a step further, IBF has raised questions over transparency and the manner in which draft guidelines were issued: “The draft consultations also do not meet the threshold of transparency mandated by Section 11(4) of the TRAI Act 1997, which requires that the Authority will ensure transparency while exercising its powers and discharging its functions.”

    Also Read:

    TRAI unlikely to take final call on draft orders soon

  • Regulation must facilitate tech, not kill it: TRAI chief

    Regulation must facilitate tech, not kill it: TRAI chief

    NEW DELHI: The chief regulator of India’s telecom and broadcast carriage sectors has said regulation should not kill a technology, fledgling or otherwise, and that consumer interest and a level playing field for all players should be the basis for tech-related regulations.

    “Technology must be facilitated by regulation, not throttled by it, “Telecoms and Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) chairman RS Sharma said on Tuesday while speaking at the opening session of Technology Summit 2016, organised by Carnegie India.

    The TRAI chief, criticised by many for catering to populist measures and bringing in regulations that impede new technology and innovation, said that “consumer protection and creating a level playing field for all are our guidelines for regulating technology.”

    The tech summit was organised with an aim to bring together technologists, entrepreneurs, academics and policy makers to reflect on rapid technological changes and recommend policy measures to harness this transformation for India’s development.

    Pointing out that India the `Digital India’ initiative — one of the pet schemes of PM Modi — is about digital infrastructure, software innovation and empowering citizens to use technology, Sharma said, “ India can lead the world in technology and share the architecture of regulatory principles that has been created.”

    Highlighting the digital innovations introduced by the present government in New Delhi, Sharma said e-signature, for example, was one such move and costs “Rs.1 thanks to #Aadhar, a paperless, robust, digital identity that protects (individual) privacy.” He also stressed that focus of digitisation was to provide digital “identity infrastructure to all the citizens of India”.

    Indiantelevision.com was not present at the Carnegie India tech summit in Bengaluru held on December 6 and 7, 2016 and this news report has been drafted based on a series of tweets by the organisers and re-tweeted by Sharma via his Twitter handle @rssharma3.

  • Regulation must facilitate tech, not kill it: TRAI chief

    Regulation must facilitate tech, not kill it: TRAI chief

    NEW DELHI: The chief regulator of India’s telecom and broadcast carriage sectors has said regulation should not kill a technology, fledgling or otherwise, and that consumer interest and a level playing field for all players should be the basis for tech-related regulations.

    “Technology must be facilitated by regulation, not throttled by it, “Telecoms and Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) chairman RS Sharma said on Tuesday while speaking at the opening session of Technology Summit 2016, organised by Carnegie India.

    The TRAI chief, criticised by many for catering to populist measures and bringing in regulations that impede new technology and innovation, said that “consumer protection and creating a level playing field for all are our guidelines for regulating technology.”

    The tech summit was organised with an aim to bring together technologists, entrepreneurs, academics and policy makers to reflect on rapid technological changes and recommend policy measures to harness this transformation for India’s development.

    Pointing out that India the `Digital India’ initiative — one of the pet schemes of PM Modi — is about digital infrastructure, software innovation and empowering citizens to use technology, Sharma said, “ India can lead the world in technology and share the architecture of regulatory principles that has been created.”

    Highlighting the digital innovations introduced by the present government in New Delhi, Sharma said e-signature, for example, was one such move and costs “Rs.1 thanks to #Aadhar, a paperless, robust, digital identity that protects (individual) privacy.” He also stressed that focus of digitisation was to provide digital “identity infrastructure to all the citizens of India”.

    Indiantelevision.com was not present at the Carnegie India tech summit in Bengaluru held on December 6 and 7, 2016 and this news report has been drafted based on a series of tweets by the organisers and re-tweeted by Sharma via his Twitter handle @rssharma3.

  • Crime videos notice: SC asks Silicon Valley giants to reply by 9 January

    Crime videos notice: SC asks Silicon Valley giants to reply by 9 January

    MUMBAI: The Supreme Court of India has sent notices to Facebook, Google and others over sharing of cyber crime videos. The two, and Yahoo and Microsoft have been asked to reply to the notice by NGO Prajwala by 9 January.

    The apex court had issued the notices on the plea seeking to curb the sharing of videos displaying sexual assault and cyber crime. The NGO had sought plea seeking for the enterprises to have a defined place to report rape videos and seek to block them.

    India’s top court was concerned over illicit activities and cyber abuse that allegedly occured on the four search engines. The court asked the Silicon Valley giants why they were not preventing users from behaviors including circulating rape videos and posting other private content without the subjects’ consent.

    As per a report by PTI, a bench consisting of judges M B Lokur and U U Lalit issued the notices. The court was hearing a letter that was written to former Chief Justice of India, H L Dattu, by the Hyderabad-based NGO. The letter was accompanied by a pen drive, which contained two rape videos.

    Aparna Bhatt, the NGO’s advocate, said that videos depicting sexual offences were shared on social networking sites and these companies should take steps to curb such cybercrime.

    Solicitor-General Maninder Singh, representing the Center, listed the steps taken by the union home ministry and CBI. The bench however said that the, if names of the victims were to be made public, it should be done only after conviction in the offence, and not immediately after the case was lodged.

    Although these companies often prevent offensive content on their platforms, the issue in this instance is the failure of communication between the tech giants, service providers, and government officials.

    This is not the maiden event the Indian court has had an issue with leading companies. In July 2016, the court concluded that Bing, Google and Yahoo put up advertisements for kits and clinics that helped people determine the sex of a foetus which is illegal in India.

  • Crime videos notice: SC asks Silicon Valley giants to reply by 9 January

    Crime videos notice: SC asks Silicon Valley giants to reply by 9 January

    MUMBAI: The Supreme Court of India has sent notices to Facebook, Google and others over sharing of cyber crime videos. The two, and Yahoo and Microsoft have been asked to reply to the notice by NGO Prajwala by 9 January.

    The apex court had issued the notices on the plea seeking to curb the sharing of videos displaying sexual assault and cyber crime. The NGO had sought plea seeking for the enterprises to have a defined place to report rape videos and seek to block them.

    India’s top court was concerned over illicit activities and cyber abuse that allegedly occured on the four search engines. The court asked the Silicon Valley giants why they were not preventing users from behaviors including circulating rape videos and posting other private content without the subjects’ consent.

    As per a report by PTI, a bench consisting of judges M B Lokur and U U Lalit issued the notices. The court was hearing a letter that was written to former Chief Justice of India, H L Dattu, by the Hyderabad-based NGO. The letter was accompanied by a pen drive, which contained two rape videos.

    Aparna Bhatt, the NGO’s advocate, said that videos depicting sexual offences were shared on social networking sites and these companies should take steps to curb such cybercrime.

    Solicitor-General Maninder Singh, representing the Center, listed the steps taken by the union home ministry and CBI. The bench however said that the, if names of the victims were to be made public, it should be done only after conviction in the offence, and not immediately after the case was lodged.

    Although these companies often prevent offensive content on their platforms, the issue in this instance is the failure of communication between the tech giants, service providers, and government officials.

    This is not the maiden event the Indian court has had an issue with leading companies. In July 2016, the court concluded that Bing, Google and Yahoo put up advertisements for kits and clinics that helped people determine the sex of a foetus which is illegal in India.

  • FM Phase III auction postponed

    FM Phase III auction postponed

    NEW DELHI: The e-auctions in the second batch of FM Phase III, which completed its 24th day yesterday, will now resume on 9 December 2016.

    The auction was not held on Tuesday, owing to the demise of Tamil Nadu chief minister J Jayalalitha as some bidders rushed back to Tamil Nadu.

    The bidding has so far been somewhat slow, but Muzaffarpur has been the sole silver lining over the past week rising to more than Rs 33.7 million and thus also overtaking Mysuru which is still at Rs 32.1 million.

    Hyderabad and Dehradun are still at top with Rs 23,43,48,266 and Rs 15,61,00,590 respectively, and there are still no bids for 44 cities and movement of just one or two cities in the bottom rung.

    M/s South Asia FM Ltd has been declared as the winning bidder for five Radio FM channels, just a day after the commencement of the auction for the second batch of Phase III. The company will be allotted FM Channels in Surat, Amritsar, Patna, Chandigarh and Jammu.

    The first day of auction on 26 October saw a winning price of Rs 1820 milion against the aggregate price of Rs 1792 million, while the second day onwards the bidding has been low.

    Information and Broadcasting Ministry sources told indiantelevision.com’s sister concern radioandmusic.com that the aim was to continue till all the channels slated in the second batch were auctioned, but breaks will have to be taken for weekends and national holidays.

    This data has been compiled on the basis of system generated “Final Round Result Report” and “Frequency Identification Report” accessible through auction administrator role.

    Also Read

    South Asia FM bags five channels in first round of the second batch of FM Batch III

    FM Phase III: Slump in auction, with sole exception of Muzaffarpur leaping to over Rs 33 million

  • FM Phase III auction postponed

    FM Phase III auction postponed

    NEW DELHI: The e-auctions in the second batch of FM Phase III, which completed its 24th day yesterday, will now resume on 9 December 2016.

    The auction was not held on Tuesday, owing to the demise of Tamil Nadu chief minister J Jayalalitha as some bidders rushed back to Tamil Nadu.

    The bidding has so far been somewhat slow, but Muzaffarpur has been the sole silver lining over the past week rising to more than Rs 33.7 million and thus also overtaking Mysuru which is still at Rs 32.1 million.

    Hyderabad and Dehradun are still at top with Rs 23,43,48,266 and Rs 15,61,00,590 respectively, and there are still no bids for 44 cities and movement of just one or two cities in the bottom rung.

    M/s South Asia FM Ltd has been declared as the winning bidder for five Radio FM channels, just a day after the commencement of the auction for the second batch of Phase III. The company will be allotted FM Channels in Surat, Amritsar, Patna, Chandigarh and Jammu.

    The first day of auction on 26 October saw a winning price of Rs 1820 milion against the aggregate price of Rs 1792 million, while the second day onwards the bidding has been low.

    Information and Broadcasting Ministry sources told indiantelevision.com’s sister concern radioandmusic.com that the aim was to continue till all the channels slated in the second batch were auctioned, but breaks will have to be taken for weekends and national holidays.

    This data has been compiled on the basis of system generated “Final Round Result Report” and “Frequency Identification Report” accessible through auction administrator role.

    Also Read

    South Asia FM bags five channels in first round of the second batch of FM Batch III

    FM Phase III: Slump in auction, with sole exception of Muzaffarpur leaping to over Rs 33 million

  • M2M communications feedback time extended till 12 January

    M2M communications feedback time extended till 12 January

    NEW DELHI: As M2M communication is an upcoming vertical covering variety of issues, the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India has for the second time extended the date for responses to its paper to 12 January 2017 and for counter-comments up to the 19 January 2017.

    Noting that no further extension will be given, TRAI has said that the second extension follows the request by industry associations due to cross sectoral impact of M2M and lnternet of Things.

    TRAI has written to all the state governments and union territories and various ministries of central government seeking their inputs for the sectors those are foreseen to get impacted with the deployment of M2M devices. Inputs from wider consultation with state governments & UTs and various Ministries will be valuable in forming a comprehensive recommendation by the Authority.

    The Consultation Paper is on “Spectrum, Roaming and QoS related requirements in Machine-to-Machine (M2M) Communications” dated 18 October 2016.

    In the paper which posed 16 questions, TRAI said the digital space had witnessed exponential evolution in the last couple of years and would continue to evolve rapidly. The latest entrant to the digital space is the Machine-to-Machine (M2M) communications.

    Expansion and evolution of networks, falling costs of hardware like sensors and actuators, increasing battery life, new business models etc are the major factors leading to the emergence of services like remote monitoring of patients, automatic security systems, connected cars, smart grid etc. The connected devices deliver innovative services by utilising the M2M communication technologies.

    M2M communication has potential to bring substantial social and economic benefits to governments, citizens, end-users and businesses through increase in productivity and competitiveness, improvements in service delivery, optimal use of scarce resources as well as creation of new jobs.

    Although forecasts indicate a significant opportunity in this field, this industry is still in a nascent stage. The M2M ecosystem is composed of a large number of diverse players, deploying innovative services across different networks, technologies and devices. Providing clarity and consistency of regulation for equivalent services, as well as policies that enable growth, will play a significant role in fully capturing its opportunity to stimulate this market.

    The government has recognised the potential of M2M communication and emphasized the same in the National Telecom Policy (NTP) 2012.

    Accordingly in May 2015, the Government had come out with its ‘National Telecom M2M roadmap’ with the purpose of boosting development of M2M based products and to provide efficient citizen centric services in India.

    The paper is available on the TRAI website trai.gov.in

  • M2M communications feedback time extended till 12 January

    M2M communications feedback time extended till 12 January

    NEW DELHI: As M2M communication is an upcoming vertical covering variety of issues, the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India has for the second time extended the date for responses to its paper to 12 January 2017 and for counter-comments up to the 19 January 2017.

    Noting that no further extension will be given, TRAI has said that the second extension follows the request by industry associations due to cross sectoral impact of M2M and lnternet of Things.

    TRAI has written to all the state governments and union territories and various ministries of central government seeking their inputs for the sectors those are foreseen to get impacted with the deployment of M2M devices. Inputs from wider consultation with state governments & UTs and various Ministries will be valuable in forming a comprehensive recommendation by the Authority.

    The Consultation Paper is on “Spectrum, Roaming and QoS related requirements in Machine-to-Machine (M2M) Communications” dated 18 October 2016.

    In the paper which posed 16 questions, TRAI said the digital space had witnessed exponential evolution in the last couple of years and would continue to evolve rapidly. The latest entrant to the digital space is the Machine-to-Machine (M2M) communications.

    Expansion and evolution of networks, falling costs of hardware like sensors and actuators, increasing battery life, new business models etc are the major factors leading to the emergence of services like remote monitoring of patients, automatic security systems, connected cars, smart grid etc. The connected devices deliver innovative services by utilising the M2M communication technologies.

    M2M communication has potential to bring substantial social and economic benefits to governments, citizens, end-users and businesses through increase in productivity and competitiveness, improvements in service delivery, optimal use of scarce resources as well as creation of new jobs.

    Although forecasts indicate a significant opportunity in this field, this industry is still in a nascent stage. The M2M ecosystem is composed of a large number of diverse players, deploying innovative services across different networks, technologies and devices. Providing clarity and consistency of regulation for equivalent services, as well as policies that enable growth, will play a significant role in fully capturing its opportunity to stimulate this market.

    The government has recognised the potential of M2M communication and emphasized the same in the National Telecom Policy (NTP) 2012.

    Accordingly in May 2015, the Government had come out with its ‘National Telecom M2M roadmap’ with the purpose of boosting development of M2M based products and to provide efficient citizen centric services in India.

    The paper is available on the TRAI website trai.gov.in

  • Films Division shorts in cinema halls: Centre mulling revival

    Films Division shorts in cinema halls: Centre mulling revival

    NEW DELHI: All cinema halls may soon have to screen the news features produced by the Films Division, sources in the Information and Broadcasting Ministry said.

    As a first step, the Government had earlier this year waived the 1% rental charged by Films Division in lieu of supplying public services awareness films including news features to facilitate exhibition of such films in the cinema halls of the country.

    These sources told indiantelevision.com that provisions have been kept in the proposed amendments to the Cinematograph Act 1952 to empower the Central Government to issue directions so that such films may get adequate opportunity of being exhibited.

    Meanwhile, Films Division sources told indiantelevision.com that a beginning had already been made and almost all the PVR theatres were showing shorts that went on for just around three to four minutes. However, the aim to revive the practice prevalent around two decades earlier was to show a news feature by the Division before the main feature film commences.

    At one stage, some private filmmakers had gone to court saying that there was no reason for only Films Division films being shown. As a result, cinema halls had stopped screening of the Division films. However, the Supreme Court ultimately ruled over a decade earlier that theatres should show films of relevance to society irrespective of who has made it. But, cinema halls have been reluctant to show these films.

    As a result, the Films Division appealed to the ministry to take decisive steps to ensure that the films – like those on the Swachhta Campaign or other ongoing programmes of the government should be shown. It is learnt that cinema owners have said that they will generally not accept films that are more than three minutes long, and therefore the Centre may step in to make this mandatory.