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Govt asks Trai to draft rules to check cable monopolies

Published

13 years ago

November 19, 2012

MUMBAI: Information & Broadcasting minister Manish Tewari Monday said the government has asked the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) to draft rules that would help in keeping a check on monopolies in the cable television distribution space.

The broadcast sector regulator will be looking into monopolies at a local, state or regional level, a move that can have deeper repercussions in the cable TV industry. It will also examine other related gamut of issues.

"A near monopoly like situation exists in at least three states – Tamil Nadu, Punjab and Orissa. In local areas, a second cable operator is often not allowed. This move will ensure competition, protect consumers and benefit broadcasters," said the head of a multi-system operator (MSO).

India‘s digitisation drive, thus, will come with accompanied policy changes.
“I have requested the Ministry to make a reference to the Trai as to how do we ensure that monopolies do not continue to subsist in the marketplace,” Tewari said during his first formal interaction with the media after being appointed as I&B minister.

Tewari said monopolies will kill the entire purpose of cable TV digitisation which is to give more choice to the customers. Digitisation, he said, will provide several tangible benefits to customers including picture quality, freedom of choice and value added services, which will make it interactive.

“Monopolies are the anti-thesis of choice so I have asked the Ministry to make a reference specifically so that we can deal with this issue as go forward with the digitisation between now and 2014,” he added.

He also allayed fears that the government was targeting any specific MSO in the garb of checking monopoly saying that the objective is to allow wider choice to customers.

“Essentially this is not about any state. I think the issue is very germane. When you are trying to create a transparent architecture which empowers the consumer, I think in the process of empowerment, it is also essential that they need to have a wider choice in terms of operators that they could choose from. There are similar provisions with regard to sectoral caps in telecom. Even when we do the radio auction, we mandate such caps,” he said.

Interestingly, the reference to Trai comes in the backdrop of the government holding back issuance of a DAS (digital addressable system) licence to Tamil Nadu government-owned MSO Arasu Cable. Arasu applied for a licence in July but its application is still to be cleared. In Punjab, Fastway Cable Network is a dominant player while Ortel is a powerful local MSO in Orissa.

Talking about the first phase of digitisation, Tewari said the digital penetration in the four metros stands at 96 per cent which goes up to 97 per cent if direct-to-home (DTH) connections are also added.

“If you look at it in a broad sweep, the fact is that we could go through a process which involved almost a crore households across the four major cities of India without any major obstacles. I think this has been a significant achievement,” he held.

He also said that the support of state governments was paramount for the success of second phase of digitisation across 38 cities. The deadline for the second phase is 31 March 2013.

“Since we are going into the second phase of digitisation, I would request all the state governments to co-operate with the Ministry. This is critical to the success of the digitisation which is going to be a catalyst in empowering the consumer,” he asserted.

On the issue of bringing news broadcasters under the ambit of Press Council of India (PCI), Tewari said the government was in favour of self regulation.

“On balance we would like to lean on the side of self regulation and if at all the stakeholders do desire that we play some role in strengthening those self regulatory mechanisms, then we are prepared to look at it with an open mind."

Tewari also felt that it was not appropriate to bring news broadcasters under PCI as the sector came into existence much after the council was formed. “I think it would not be appropriate to extrapolate a mechanism which was there in existence earlier to a sector which has been opened up later,” he averred.

Mamata Banerjee in ‘favour‘ of Digitisation

The I&B minister told reporters that the West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee had ordered for set-top boxes (STB) for state secretariat which reflects her support for digitisation.

"If I am correct…I read that she had placed order for set top boxes for Writers Building the day the deadline came to an end. This clearly shows that the digitisation process is a good move for the consumers and the sector as a whole," Tewari said.

Tewari also ruled out action against MSOs in Kolkata for not adhering to the digitisation deadline saying, "We have been patient and we would expect that the state governments and MSOs concerned do honour the deadline."

According to I&B secretary Uday Kumar Verma, 1.85 million cable TV homes in Kolkata have been digitised. "It is a matter of days for achieving digitisation," he said.

Related Topics:Arasu cable cable monopolies Cable TV Digitisation govt Trai

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Moltbook, the AI-only social network, sparks hype, doubt and fear

Published

2 weeks ago

February 3, 2026

indiantelevision.com Team

CALIFORNIA: Moltbook, a Reddit-style social platform built exclusively for artificial intelligence agents, has emerged as the latest obsession in Silicon Valley, drawing intense attention for its explosive growth and surreal bot-driven interactions.

The platform hosts more than 100 communities where AI agents post, argue and joke about topics ranging from governance theory to esoteric “crayfish debugging” concepts. Within days of launch, Moltbook recorded tens of thousands of posts, nearly 200,000 comments and more than 1 million human visitors observing the activity.

Yet the numbers and the autonomy are under scrutiny, as per media reports. A security researcher has suggested as many as 500,000 accounts may trace back to a single address, raising doubts about Moltbook’s membership claims. Many posts could also be the result of humans instructing their AI tools to publish content, rather than bots acting independently.

The platform runs on agentic AI, powered by an open-source tool called OpenClaw, formerly known as Moltbot. Unlike chatbots such as ChatGPT or Gemini, these agents are designed to perform tasks on users’ devices, from sending messages to managing calendars, with minimal human input. Once authorised, they can interact freely on Moltbook.

Some tech figures have hailed the platform as a glimpse of a post-human internet. Head of crypto custody firm BitGo Bill Lees, called it evidence that “we’re in the singularity”.

Academics are less convinced. Petar Radanliev, an AI and cybersecurity expert at the University of Oxford, said the idea of agents acting independently was “misleading”, describing Moltbook instead as automated coordination within human-set constraints. Columbia Business School assistant professor David Holtz, dismissed the spectacle as “thousands of bots yelling into the void and repeating themselves”.

Beyond hype, security worries loom large. ESET global cybersecurity advisor Jake Moore, warned that granting AI agents access to emails, private messages and files risks prioritising efficiency over privacy. Andrew Rogoyski of the University of Surrey said high-level system access could lead to serious damage, from erased data to compromised company accounts.

Even OpenClaw’s founder Peter Steinberger, has felt the darker side of attention, with scammers hijacking his old social media handles after the platform’s rebrand.

For now, Moltbook remains a strange digital zoo: part experiment, part spectacle, where AI agents banter about philosophy, productivity and, occasionally, their fondness for their human operators.

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Apple appoints Avtar Ram Singh as head of international marketing

Published

2 weeks ago

February 2, 2026

indiantelevision.com Team

CALIFORNIA: Apple has handed a bigger global brief to a long-time insider. Avtar Ram Singh has taken over as head of international marketing for the App Store, Apple Arcade and the Apple Games app, deepening his remit across one of the company’s fastest-growing businesses.

“I’m happy to share that I’m starting a new position as head of international marketing, App Store, Apple Arcade and Games App at Apple,” Singh said while announcing the move.

The promotion crowns nearly seven years at Apple, where Singh has led services marketing across Southeast Asia and India and previously served as head of marketing for Southeast Asia content and services, business lead for Apple Podcasts in the region and interim marketing lead for the App Store internationally.

His new portfolio spans three pillars of Apple’s services push. The App Store, which Apple positions as a safe and trusted discovery platform, now attracts more than 850 million average weekly users globally. Since 2008, developers have earned over $550 billion on the platform.

Apple Arcade, the company’s gaming subscription service, offers unlimited access to a catalogue ranging from brain teasers to big-name franchises. The recent addition of Sid Meier’s Civilization VII Arcade Edition brings a AAA PC title to iPhone, iPad and Mac from 5 February.

Then there is the Apple Games app, unveiled at WWDC as a unified destination for games from the App Store and Arcade. It aggregates titles in one place, surfaces personalised recommendations, tracks events and achievements, and lets users compete with friends or connect controllers for a console-like experience.

Singh arrives with a hybrid background in strategy, data and creativity. His career spans digital and social media marketing, business intelligence, content, editorial and analytics across culturally diverse markets. He has worked on brands including P&G, Accor, Audi, UBS, Nikon, Samsung, Sony, Pizza Hut, HBO and Singapore Airlines-linked businesses such as Scoot.

Before Apple, Singh led strategy at Falcon Agency, focusing on performance marketing and ROI-driven digital frameworks. He earlier ran the social practice at Publicis Singapore, where he oversaw operations, business development and regional social strategy for multinational clients. His career also includes roles at Ogilvy-linked Circus Social, Rocket Internet ventures Lazada and Zalora, and research firm IDC in Bangkok, where he analysed technology markets and won early awards for collaboration and client retention.

At Apple, he has been close to several service launches and expansions, including Apple Fitness+ in Singapore, Apple Creator Studio, global podcast subscriptions and new App Store marketing tools.

The timing is notable. Apple’s services business has posted record years, and gaming is becoming a sharper battleground as platforms chase engagement and recurring revenue. Singh’s brief sits at the intersection of content, community and commerce.

In a market where attention is scarce and loyalty scarcer, Apple is betting that sharper storytelling and smarter marketing can keep users inside its ecosystem. Singh now holds the megaphone. The real test will be how loudly the world listens.

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Cloud nine in the capital Bharathcloud plugs Delhi into its AI plans

Published

2 weeks ago

January 30, 2026

indiantelevision.com Team

MUMBAI: Bharathcloud is bringing its cloud closer to power. The Hyderabad-based sovereign AI cloud services provider has opened its Delhi office, marking its formal entry into North India and setting the stage for its next phase of growth.

The expansion comes as India’s digital transformation fuels rising demand for AI-ready cloud infrastructure, driven by wider adoption of artificial intelligence, machine learning, the Internet of Things and data-heavy applications. With the new office, Bharathcloud plans to onboard more than 100 employees in 2026, strengthening its workforce to support customers across government, enterprises, MSMEs and social sectors.

The Delhi presence is expected to sharpen the company’s engagement with organisations seeking secure, scalable and cost-efficient cloud platforms that comply with India’s data sovereignty requirements. It also positions Bharathcloud closer to policy, public sector and enterprise decision-makers in the region.

Founded in Hyderabad, Bharathcloud offers AI-ready cloud infrastructure including Kubernetes-as-a-Service, zero-trust security architecture and multi-level data protection frameworks. Its platform supports AI and ML workloads, blockchain application migration from hyperscalers and distributed data management, with an emphasis on reliability, low latency and operational continuity.

“With the Delhi expansion, we are positioning Bharathcloud to engage more closely with AI-driven enterprises and technology hubs in North India,” said Bharathcloud co-founder Rahul Takallapally. He added that the move would help nurture local cloud and AI talent while accelerating the adoption of secure and resilient AI infrastructure across sectors.

The company currently operates in Hyderabad, Bengaluru, Mumbai, Kolkata, Lucknow and Chennai, employing over 200 people and serving more than 1,500 clients across manufacturing, healthcare, financial services, IT and media. Aligned with national initiatives such as Digital India and Make in India, Bharathcloud continues to focus on building indigenous AI-cloud infrastructure to support data localisation and the country’s growing appetite for next-generation digital solutions.

With its Delhi office now live, the company is signalling a clear intent: to make sovereign, AI-ready cloud infrastructure not just an alternative, but a mainstream choice for India’s north as well as its tech capitals.