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Category: TRAI

  • TRAI bats for converged regulator & renaming of NTP’18

    TRAI bats for converged regulator & renaming of NTP’18

    NEW DELHI: The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has not only suggested that the National Telecom Policy 2018 should be renamed as the Information and Communication Technologies Technology Policy – 2018 but also the regulator’s own restructuring so it can function as a converged regulator for the ICT (information and communications technology) and broadcasting sector.

    TRAI has batted for an “integrated regulation of ICT and broadcasting sector led by economic and social policy goals of the country” suggesting delivery of broadcast services using converged wire line and wireless networks be allowed.

    The regulator, in its inputs to the National Telecom Policy 2018 formulation, has also suggested “review of [the] satellite communications (SATCOM) policy” for communication services “keeping in view the international developments” and social and economic needs of the country.

    It has advocated simplification of telecom licensing and regulatory frameworks and rationalisation of high taxes and levies by 2019 to attract a whopping USD100 billion in investments into the financially beleaguered telecom industry by calendar year 2022 and as much as USD 60 billion in the next two years itself.

    “Digital communication has presented India an opportunity to overcome the impediments posed by deficiencies in its brick and mortar based physical infrastructure and opened doors to new paradigms in all sectors of economy whereby the common man at the bottom of the pyramid is being served much more efficiently and at a fraction of the cost as compared to earlier days,” TRAI stated explaining the rationale behind its suggestion to rename the National telecom Policy 2018 (NTP2018) as the ‘Information and Communication Technology Policy 2018’.

    The lengthy submission to the government for consideration, which some broadcast industry observers felt was an attempt to gain more regulatory control over the sector even though a parliamentary panel had suggested a separate broadcast regulator, encompasses a wide range of inputs to NTP 2018.

    What’s TRAI’s vision while submitting the inputs to NTP 2018? To develop a competitive, sustainable and investor-friendly ICT market for rollout of state-of-the-art ubiquitous digital communication infrastructure to provide resilient, reliable, affordable, and consumer-friendly products and services to meet local as well as global needs that will transform India’s knowledge economy, support inclusive development, foster innovation and stimulate job creation.

    TRAI’s recommendations on the vision, mission and objectives for NTP 2018 include the following:

    — Leveraging the cable TV sector and power sector assets (for broadband and related services)

    — Upgrade of cable TV networks for delivery of converged broadcast and broadband services

    — Facilitating development of content delivery networks for improved quality of experience

    — Prescription of a simple and enabling regulatory framework for application service providers in order to promote innovation in application services

    — To fulfill the information and communication needs of individuals, including persons with disabilities, governments, enterprises, and industries with high quality of experience at affordable prices on a sustainable basis

    — To facilitate growth of state-of-the-art, secure and energy-efficient digital communication infrastructure for delivering ubiquitous, resilient, reliable and ultra-high speed connectivity with extremely low latency for objects, machines and devices

    — To stimulate the environment for innovation and entrepreneurial opportunities making India a global centre for research and development, patent-creation, and standardisation in ICT and services

    — To develop indigenous technologies, equipment, platforms and applications ecosystem for providing digital services to local and global markets

    — To establish India as a global hub for cloud computing, content hosting and delivery and data communication systems and services in a net-neutral environment

    — To protect consumers’ interests by increasing awareness and putting in place an effective grievance redressal mechanism, improving quality of experience, ensuring network, communication and data security, encouraging adoption of environment and safety standards for ICT and modernising public safety and emergency communications  networks

    — To attract investments by enhancing ease of doing business through simplification of licensing and regulatory frameworks, rationalisation of taxes, levies and related compliances and facilitating availability of resources including spectrum

    — To enable access at affordable prices for wireless broadband services, including through satellite to 90 per cent population by 2022

    — To ensure availability of bandwidth on demand through wire line, including cable TV and optical fibre networks to 30 per cent households by 2020 and 50 per cent households by 2022

    —  To provide at least 1 gbps data connectivity to all gram panchayats (village administrations) to enable wireless broadband services to inhabitants by 2022

    —  To achieve 900 million broadband subscriptions supporting download speed of 2 mbps, out of that at-least 150 million broadband subscriptions supporting download speed of 20 mbps and 25 million at a download speed of 50 mbps by 2022

    —  To achieve ‘unique mobile subscriber density’ of 55 by 2020 and 65 by 2022 by enhancing mobile network coverage to 95 per cent of inhabitants by 2020 and 100 per cent by 2022

     — To deploy 2 million public WLAN, including Wi-Fi hotspots in the country by 2020 and 5 million by 2022

    — To leapfrog India into the top-50 nations in the ICT Development Index (IDI), released by ITU every year, by 2022

    — To enable access for connecting to 1 billion IoT/ M2M sensors/ devices by 2020 and 5 billion by 2022

    — To attract an investment equivalent to USD 60 billion in the communication sector by 2020 and USD 100 billion by 2022

    — To become net positive in international trade of communication systems and services by 2022

    — To put in place an online platform for all government to business (G2B) activities, including spectrum and licence-related information, applications, clearances, compliances and payments by 2019

    — To simplify licencing and regulatory frameworks and rationalise taxes, levies and related compliances by 2019

    — To put in place a flexible, robust data protection regime powered by a strong encryption policy by 2019

    — To establish a policy framework for facilitating setting up of data centers by 2019

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  • TRAI suggests auction of 200 khz band for digital radio broadcast

    TRAI suggests auction of 200 khz band for digital radio broadcast

    NEW DELHI: While recommending financial incentives by government, the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) today recommended auctioning of 200 KHz bandwidth spectrum in VHF-II band for providing digital radio broadcasting services.

    “Auction should be carried out in phases, starting with cities of category A+ and A, and subsequently in cities of other categories,” TRAI said while releasing a series of recommendations for ushering in digital radio broadcasting services in India.

    TRAI further added: “Immediately after the successful auction of spectrum for digital radio broadcasting, an offer should be made to the existing FM radio broadcasters to get their existing frequency bandwidth of +100 KHz, already allocated through auction in Phase-III of FM radio, liberalised and provide digital radio broadcasting services in simulcast mode with analog FM radio services.”

    Suggesting further liberalisation of existing spectrum, already allocated to the FM radio broadcasters in Phase-III of FM radio, according to TRAI, the existing FM players will have to pay an amount equal to the difference of auction determined price of equivalent spectrum for digital radio broadcasting in a city and amount paid for allocation of FM radio frequency.

    At present, analog terrestrial radio broadcast in India is carried out in medium wave (MW) short wave (SW) and VHF-II (FM band) spectrum bands. AIR, the public service broadcaster, has established 467 radio stations encompassing 662 radio transmitters, which include 140 MW, 48 SW and 474 FM transmitters. Private sector radio broadcasters are licensed to transmit programs in FM frequency band (88-108 MHz) only and presently operate through 322 radio stations in 86 cities. Presently, radio signals are largely transmitted in analog mode in the country.

    Analog terrestrial radio broadcasting, when compared with digital mode, is inefficient and suffers from operational restrictions. With the advancement in technologies, digital radio technologies around the globe have been developed and adopted by a number of countries in order to offer more choice to listeners along with efficient use of spectrum. Digital Radio broadcasting provides a number of advantages over analog radio broadcasting. The biggest advantage of digital radio is that it is possible to broadcast three to four channels on a single frequency carrier, while ensuring excellent quality of audio for all the channels whereas analog mode broadcasts only one channel on a frequency carrier.

    The TRAI said it hopes the recommendations would enable a smooth transition from analog to digital radio broadcasting services, without disruption of the existing FM Radio services.

    The salient features of the recommendations are as follows:

    — Government should notify the policy framework for digital radio broadcasting in India in time bound manner with clear roadmap for rollout of digital radio broadcasting services.

    — The WPC wing of telecoms Ministry should carry out necessary amendments in NFAP- 2011 for permitting digital radio broadcasting in MW, SW, and VHF-II frequency bands.

    — Private sector should .be permitted to provide digital radio broadcasting services within the existing frequency band of 88 -108 MHz used for FM radio broadcasting.

    — Frequency and geographical area coverage planning for digital radio broadcasting using the vacant 600 KHz spectrum in VHF-II (88 -108 MHz) and VHF-III (174-230 MHz) bands should be completed by BECIL, AIR, and WPC together in phased manner.

    — 200 KHz bandwidth spectrum in VHF-II band should be auctioned for providing digital radio broadcasting services.

    — In case market determined price of 200 KHz for digital radio broadcasting is less than or equal to the price paid by FM radio broadcasters then FM radio broadcasters will not be required to pay any additional amount and it will be permitted to provide digital radio broadcasting services also for the remaining period of permission.

    — The broadcasters should be allowed to make use of any available digital technology, recognised by ITU, within the allocated/liberalised spectrum for providing digital radio broadcasting services subject to adaptation, if any, recommended by MIB/TRAI from time to time.

    — No date for digital switch over of radio broadcasting services should be declared at this stage.

    — Existing analog FM radio channels should be allowed to remain operational for the remaining period of their Phase-III permissions.

     — The continuance of operation of existing analog FM radio channels that do not migrate to digital radio broadcasting should be reviewed after the expiry of their existing Phase-III permissions.

    — The auction of remaining channels of Phase-III should be done by delinking them from technology. Broadcasters should be permitted to use any technology (analog or digital or both) for radio broadcasting on the frequency allocated to them through auction in future.

    — For initial three years after declaration of digital radio broadcasting policy, the government should grant fiscal incentives in the form of lower tax rates to manufacturers of digital radio receivers.

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  • TRAI seeks to regulate online streaming platforms

    TRAI seeks to regulate online streaming platforms

    MUMBAI: Online streaming platforms may come under the purview of the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI). The regulator is likely to bring out a consultation paper to bring online video-streaming platforms like Netflix, Amazon Prime and Hotstar under the regulatory ambit, according to a report in Livemint.

    Industry stakeholders wrote to the TRAI to come up with a pricing framework and is likely to add a section in its upcoming consultation paper on over-the-top (OTT) services. They state that some broadcasters air content for free on their streaming platforms for which they charge customers on cable and DTH.

    Indian broadcasters such as Star, Zee and Viacom18 all have their own OTT sites and apps wherein some content is monetised while some is not kept behind a paywall.

    Some broadcasters and OTT players are up in arms against such a regulation because nowhere in the world does it exist. They claim that people have to pay for data charges if not content. OTT cannot be clubbed with DTH and cable and it comes under rules regarding net neutrality.

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  • Zee, Star, NBA oppose converged regulator for broadcast and telecoms

    Zee, Star, NBA oppose converged regulator for broadcast and telecoms

    MUMBAI: Two of India’s biggest broadcasters Star India and Zee Network and industry association News Broadcasters Association (NBA) have opposed the TRAI’s proposal to have a converged regulator, a concept being debated as part of a consultation paper floated by the regulatory body. 

    In its lengthy submission to the TRAI’s paper on formulation of National Telecoms Policy 2018, Star, while suggesting a “separate regulator” for broadcasting sector was unfeasible, has said, “With a converged regulator for ICT and broadcasting there is always the risk of ‘false equivalence’ being drawn between the two sectors.”

    Pointing out that convergence was an aid to make content available to consumers and increasing the opportunities for content producers/rights holders to maximise monetisation opportunities involving intellectual property rights over content, Star highlighted, “Creative eco-system being an entirely separate unique value chain from ICT, should always be treated with a view to uphold and protect IPs.”

    Echoing similar sentiments, Zee said the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (MIB) was the nodal ministry for all broadcasting related issues and it would be “inappropriate” for the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) to propose a converged regulator in its policy document without making the MIB a part of the process.

    “It may also be pointed out that setting up a convergent regulator would also require a convergence bill (to be okayed by Parliament) outlining the very scope of convergent regulations and various issues associated with it,” Zee explained its stance.

    Subhash Chandra-controlled Zee network has gone ahead and questioned the TRAI’s various consultation papers on broadcasting industry-related issues that include the one on NTP 2018 and another one on uplinking and downlinking.
    “It is astounding that there is no correlation between the two consultation papers,” Zee has submitted, “If the comments (from the industry) provided against one consultation paper are accepted, these would be counter to the comments/ recommendations against the other consultation paper.”

    Both Star and Zee in their submissions have cited in the defence of their stance views of Parliament’s Standing Committee on Information Technology on broadcast regulation articulated in its latest report tabled few weeks back.
    In its report, the parliamentary panel observed that the broadcast sector has developed so much that it would be advisable for the government to explore a separate regulator and till that happens, powers of TRAI could be explored to be expanded as an interim measure.

    By trying to bring in the “convergence issue”, wherein broadcasting and telecom were “treated under the same umbrella” in a converged manner, the TRAI “would be acting contrary” to the views articulated by the parliamentary panel that had pushed for separate regulators for telecoms and broadcast sectors, both Star and Zee pointed out.

    NBA, which is an apex industry body comprising most of the TV (and digital) news ventures as its members, also joined in the issue with Star and Zee to observe the regulatory authority dealing with content issues must be different from the body dealing with other issues in the broadcasting sector.

    The TRAI regulates the carriage side of the broadcast industry that includes issues such as tariff, inter-connect and quality of service. It also holds sway over matters like OTT, broadband and net neutrality that straddle both segments of broadcast and telecoms services.

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  • TRAI clears path for broadband, voice services aboard planes

    TRAI clears path for broadband, voice services aboard planes

    NEW DELHI: Broadband connectivity and making voice calls from 32,000 feet above sea level while flying may soon become a reality over Indian space if broadcast and telecom regulator TRAI’s recommendations are accepted by some other government organisations, including ISRO.

    TRAI, while giving an in-principle green signal to in-flight connectivity (IFC), has suggested use of both domestic and foreign satellite systems for providing such services onboard airplanes and has dangled as an incentive levying of a token annual license fee of Re 1 on the service provider that could be reviewed at a later stage.

    TRAI has also recommended that the gateway for providing the IFC be located in India and that such a deployment will provide an effective mechanism to lawfully intercept and monitor the in-cabin internet traffic while the aircraft is in Indian airspace.

    Pointing out that onboard Internet traffic’s routing must be made obligatory via a satellite gateway on Indian soil, TRAI on Friday in a series of guidelines said, “The IFC service provider should be permitted to use either (Indian) INSAT systems or foreign satellite capacity leased through Department of Space (DOS) or foreign satellites outside INSAT systems in the Indian airspace (coordinated by ITU).”

    The Telecom Ministry had requested TRAI to furnish recommendations on licencing terms and conditions for provision of IFC for voice, data and video services, including those related to entry fee, licence fee and spectrum allocations.

    Making a case for creating and registration with the government a “separate category” for IFC service provider, TRAI said the operation should be permitted with minimum height restriction of 3,000 meters in Indian airspace for its compatibility with terrestrial mobile networks. Internet services through wi-fi onboard should be made available when electronic devices are permitted to use only in flight/ airplane mode, it added highlighting the IFC provider need not necessarily be an Indian entity.

    According to TRAI, the IFC service provider should be permitted to provide services after entering into an arrangement with unified licensee(s) having appropriate government authorisation.

    “If IFC service provider partners with… the licencee (that) also has commercial VSAT CUG service authorisation, it can provide the satellite links also. Alternatively, unified licencee with national long distance service authorisation can provide the satellite links,” the regulator suggested, adding, the regulatory requirements should be same for both India and foreign-registered airlines for offering IFC services in Indian airspace.

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    Some of the other recommendations include the following:

    — Spectrum neutral approach should be adopted, subject to the condition that the frequency bands have been harmonized and coordinated for their use at the ITU.

    — It would facilitate the IFC services in all the bands (L, Ku and Ka) in which IFC services are currently being provided.

    — The framework recommended for IFC services in Indian airspace should be made applicable to all types of aircrafts such as commercial airlines, business jets, executive aircrafts etc.

    — There should not be any difference in the charges to be levied for domestic and foreign airlines in Indian Airspace

    — Satellite operators should be permitted to use of bandwidth already assigned to satellite operators for the use of IFC services also.

    — In case of multiple spot beam satellite, an aircraft may pass through many beams. In such a scenario, DOS should consider not charging for individual beams, but evolve the charging mechanism based upon the actual usage of the bandwidth.

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  • TRAI extends dates for comments on uplinking/downlinking consultation paper

    TRAI extends dates for comments on uplinking/downlinking consultation paper

    MUMBAI: The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has extended the deadline for receiving comments on the consultation paper relating to uplinking and downlinking of TV channels. The new dates for receiving comments and counter-comments are 31 January and 10 February respectively.

    The TRAI had released the paper on 19 December 2017 inviting comments by 18 January 2018 but has pushed the date on the request of stakeholders. It has also warned that no further extension of dates will be entertained.

    The paper seeks to update guidelines and also talk about setting up of teleports. Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (MIB) additional secretary Jayashree Mukherjee had sought TRAI’s views on the issues keeping in mind the changes in technology, market scenarios and lessons learnt over six years since the last guidelines were passed.

    The specific question asked to broadcasters was if there was a need to redefine the definition of news and non-news channels.

    The paper also hints at a possible hike in the net worth requirement to obtain uplinking/downlinking licence to ensure only serious players stay in the game.
    On the teleport side, the TRAI is asking the industry how to define the word in the digital era, licencing norms, fee structures and if there is a need to restrict the number and location of teleports in India.

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  • TRAI invites ICT-based solution providers to upgrade tech

    TRAI invites ICT-based solution providers to upgrade tech

    NEW DELHI: With the demand for a wide range of services based on ICT platform involving machine-to-machine and internet of things, etc. increasing, Indian broadcast and telecom regulator TRAI is looking at expanding its technical capabilities and, in this regard, has invited proposals from application service providers (ASPs).

    As TRAI envisages massive expansion in the field of ICT and electronic governance services, it is looking at an ASP/IT solution provider/IT infrastructure maintenance/cloud management company having the capability of providing customised ICT-based solutions in telecom and broadcasting domains. Experience of integration of software application, database management, cloud/data centre administration, mobile applications, etc. is a pre-requisite.

    The ASP would be responsible for exploring opportunities, designing solutions and hardware and software management of TRAI’s partners, along with the capability to fulfill TRAI’s goals of having an integrated platform to effectively measure and represent the network performance of telecom and broadcasting stakeholders towards customer perceived quality of service.

    All rights on software/solutions developed by vendors would be vested with TRAI, according to a statement of the regulatory body. Development of solution will be on open source platforms and source code of all such development(s) will be provided to TRAI and stored at the designated location indicated by it.

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  • TRAI releases paper on National Telecom Policy 2018

    TRAI releases paper on National Telecom Policy 2018

    MUMBAI: Seeking views from stakeholders on the new telecom policy, the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) today released a consultation paper on inputs for formulation of the National Telecom Policy 2018.

    The Department of Telecommunications, through its letter dated 21 August 2017, requested the TRAI to suggest its policy inputs for formulation of the policy. Based on preliminary discussions with various stakeholders, including telecom service providers, telecom equipment manufacturers, industry associations, consulting firms, and cloud service providers, the regulator has prepared inputs for formulating the National Telecom Policy 2018 in line with the technological advancements in the sector and customer aspirations  for  digital services.

    The regulator is seeking views of stakeholders for formulating the policy by 19 January 2018.

    “National Telecom Policy-2018 can have twin goals viz. facilitate development of communication infrastructure and services to achieve inclusive socio-economic growth in the country,” the paper stated.

    “This policy would set the mission and objectives to be accomplished by the end of calendar year 2022, when India will be celebrating its 75 years of independence,” the paper added while underlining that the policy would also specify the strategies to accomplish such objectives as well as capacity building in general.

    The paper has set out the mission and objectives for the policy besides outlining common strategies to help India leapfrog to amongst the top-50 nations in international rankings in terms of network readiness, communications systems and services, and to attract an investment of USD 100 billion in telecommunications.

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  • TRAI tightens the screws on interconnectivity for telcos

    TRAI tightens the screws on interconnectivity for telcos

    Mumbai: The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has issued a mandate to service providers directing them to enter into an interconnection agreement on a “non-discriminatory basis” within 30 days of receiving a connectivity request from another mobile operator.

    The regulator’s release on the subject comprises regulations on important aspects of interconnection such as interconnection agreement, provisioning of initial interconnection and augmentation of points of interconnection (Pols), interconnection charges, disconnection of Pols, and the financial disincentive on interconnection matters.  

    The regulations will come into effect from 1 February 2018 and “will apply to all the service providers offering telecom services in India,” the TRAI release stated.

    Through these regulations, the TRAI has mandated that every service provider shall, within thirty days of receipt of request from a service provider, enter into an interconnection agreement. In has also laid down the framework for provisioning and augmentation of ports at Pols, which stipulates a step­by-step process for provisioning of ports at Pols.

    In October 2016, the TRAI had issued a consultation paper on ‘Review of Regulatory Framework for Interconnection’ for seeking comments of the stakeholders. The comments and counter-comments received from the stakeholders were uploaded on the TRAI’s website.

    The issue of interconnectivity was a bone of contention in 2016 between then newbie Reliance Jio and other established telecom companies such as Airtel, Vodafone and Idea Cellular.

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  • Parliamentary panel pushes for TRAI’s empowerment

    Parliamentary panel pushes for TRAI’s empowerment

    MUMBAI: Parliament’s Standing Committee on Information Technology and Communications (SCIT) wants more regulations for the broadcast industry. Finding the current powers given to the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) inadequate, it has recommended that either the scope of its authority be increased or the broadcast industry be given its own regulator.

    In the committee’s report on ‘Status of Cable TV Digitisation and Interoperability of Set-top Boxes’, it noted that since 2004, when the TRAI was entrusted with the responsibility to oversee the broadcast sector, the industry has seen enormous growth in the number of satellite TV channels, DTH services, digitisation of cable TV networks, and TV ratings agencies. With its limited ability, TRAI has efficiently handled issues to bring about transparency and non-discrimination, improve the quality of service and allow the sector to grow.

    It noted that TRAI recommendations were the basis for the government to form several policy decisions. “The committee is, however, constrained to note that TRAI at present has got very limited powers due to which enforcement of its regulations, directions and tariff orders becomes difficult,” the panel mentioned.

    Several services providers have freely violated TRAI orders and cases against them were filed in pertinent courts. The committee doesn’t find this an effective way to get the broadcast industry to fall in line with rules. The TRAI’s recommendations of modifications to its Act are under consideration by the government.

    The committee has suggested the government to evaluate the need for a separate regulator for the broadcast industry and, until such a time, the TRAI be empowered for effective enforcement of its regulations.

    It appreciated the efforts taken by TRAI to regulate pricing of set top boxes, but strongly recommends for unbundling of hardware and associated services and making provision for itemised billing for hardware as well as associated services such as installation, activation and maintenance and providing more option to the customer to procure similar compatible hardware from the open market.

    The TRAI’s effort on addressing carriage fee details was also lauded by the committee. It stated that “despite extreme reluctance on the part of broadcasters to share the details of the carriage fee”, it has now addressed the issue in its new regulatory framework capping it at 20 paise per subscriber per channel and which is expected to further decrease till zero when 20 per cent of subscribers will be available on the platform who choose the channel. Though this decision is being scrutinised at the High Courts of Delhi and Chennai, the committee hoped the TRAI’s efforts will go a long way in addressing the issue to the satisfaction of all stakeholders.

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