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Tag: Amendment

  • DoT permits laying of overhead fiber ahead of 5G roll out

    DoT permits laying of overhead fiber ahead of 5G roll out

    New Delhi: The Department of Telecommunications (DoT) has amended the Indian Telegraph Right of Way Rules (RoW), 2016 by way of a gazette notification permitting laying overhead optical fiber cable (OFC).

    This will be applicable to all digital infrastructure (including Digital CATV & Broadband distribution).

    Optical Fiber is a fundamental and structural part of both mobile and fixed broadband networks. Faster rollout of fiber is important for backhauling a large amount of data at high throughput, improving reliability, and reducing latency. The decision paves way for creating the necessary infrastructure to cater to forthcoming 5G rollouts in the country.

    “These amendments will ease RoW-related permission procedures for establishment and augmentation of digital communications infrastructure across the country,” a statement issued by the DoT said. “To achieve the objective of universal broadband connectivity at 50 Mbps to every citizen, fiberisation of telecommunication networks is essential.”

    The amendment prescribes a one-time compensation of Rs 1,000 per kilometer for laying overhead OFC, which will bring further uniformity in charging of fee/ levy by local authorities for grant of permissions for this critical infrastructure.

    Digital Infrastructure Providers Association (DIPA) director-general T R Dua told IANS, ” We are sure this is just the beginning and this amendment will pave the way for other major reforms in line, encouraging investments and faster deployment of critical broadband infrastructure in the country enabling rollout of 5G and various new technologies.

  • DoT amends VSAT license rules to enable infrastructure sharing

    DoT amends VSAT license rules to enable infrastructure sharing

    Mumbai: The department of telecommunications (DoT) has amended the commercial VSAT license rules to enable sharing of satellite infrastructure and backhaul connectivity for cellular mobile services and access service providers.  

    According to the new rules, the licensee may share its own active and passive infrastructure for providing other services authorized to it under any other telecom license issued by the licensor. The sharing of infrastructure will be governed by the terms and conditions of respective licenses and amendments/guidelines to be issued by the licensor from time to time. It also mentioned that an authorised gateway hub operated by the satellite provider itself is permitted to be shared with the satellite bandwidth seeker.

    DoT also amended the existing rules to allow backhaul connectivity for cellular mobile services through satellite using VSAT to the access service providers; it allowed backhaul connectivity using VSAT to access service providers to establish Wi-Fi hotspots and mandated that the VSAT terminal of the commercial VSAT CUG service provider, which is used to provide cellular mobile backhaul link or Wi-Fi mobile backhaul link, is to be located in the service area of the access provider, where the backhaul link is used.

    The VSAT hub can be located anywhere in the country. The link from the hub station to the respective network element of the cellular mobile network can be provided through the terrestrial obtained from an authorised service provider.

    The move is expected to reduce the capital and operational expenditure of telcos and is a long pending demand of the industry. Earlier, only mobile towers and some active electronic components in the network were allowed to be shared among telecom service providers.

    The amendment which allows the use of satellite service through VSAT terminals to provide backend connectivity for mobile networks is expected to boost the rollout in difficult terrain and remote areas.

  • MIB amends Cable TV Rules for redressal of broadcast-related complaints

    New Delhi: The Centre has amended the Cable Television Network Rules to provide for a three-layer statutory mechanism for the redressal of consumer’s complaints relating to the content broadcast by TV channels.

    The Cable TV Networks (Amendment) Rules, 2021 was notified in an official gazette on Thursday.

    “The @MIB_India has by amending the Cable Television Network Rules, 1994, developed a statutory mechanism to redress citizens’ grievances & complaints against programmes of TV channels. The @MIB_India has also decided to recognize Statutory Bodies of TV channels under CTN Rules,” tweeted information and broadcasting minister Prakash Javadekar. 

     

     

    At present, there is an institutional mechanism by way of an inter-ministerial committee to address grievances of citizens relating to violation of the Programme/Advertising Codes under the Rules. Similarly, various broadcasters have also developed their internal self-regulatory mechanism for addressing grievances. “However, a need was felt to lay down a statutory mechanism for strengthening the grievance redressal structure. Some broadcasters had also requested for giving legal recognition to their associations/bodies,” said the ministry of information and broadcasting (I&B) on Thursday.

    The amended rules stipulate a three-layer grievance redressal mechanism — self-regulation by broadcasters, self-regulation by the self-regulating bodies of broadcasters and an oversight mechanism by the central government. The rules require each broadcaster to establish a grievance or complaint redressal mechanism, appoint an officer to deal with the complaints, display the contact details of their grievance officer on their website or interface and be a member of a self-regulating body.

    As per the rules, any person aggrieved by the content of a programme of a channel may file his/her complaint in writing to the broadcaster first. “The broadcaster shall, within 24 hours of a complaint being filed, generate and issue an acknowledgement to the complainant for his information and record. The broadcaster shall dispose of the complaint and inform the complainant of its decision within 15 days of receipt of such complaint,” the rules state.

    The complainants can file an appeal with the self-regulatory body of broadcasters if they are not satisfied with the decision of the broadcaster’s grievance redressal officer or the decision of the broadcaster is not communicated to them within 15 days. The complainant may prefer an appeal to the self-regulating body, of which the broadcaster is a member, within 15 days therefrom.

    The self-regulating body will be required to dispose of the appeal within 60 days of the receipt of the appeal, convey its decision in the form of guidance or advisory to the broadcaster, and inform the complainant of such a decision within 15 days. “Where the complainant is not satisfied with the decision of the self-regulating body, he may, within 15 days of such decision, prefer an appeal to the central government for its consideration under the oversight mechanism,” said the rules.

    The Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI) will hear complaints regarding the violation of the advertising code, take a decision within 60 days of the receipt of a complaint and communicate the same to the broadcaster and the complainant.

    According to the amended rules, there may be one or more self-regulatory body of broadcasters, provided that every such body shall be constituted by a minimum of 40 broadcasters. The self-regulating body shall, after its constitution, register itself with the central government “within a period of 30 days from the date of publication of these rules, or within 30 days from the date of its constitution, whichever is earlier,” the rules stipulate.

    The government will set up an Inter-Departmental Committee (IDC) to take up the hearing of matters “arising out of the appeals against the decisions taken at Level I or Level II of the grievance redressal mechanism”. It will also hear complaints referred by the central government.

    According to the ministry, the notification is significant as it paves the way for a “strong institutional system for redressing grievances” while placing accountability and responsibility on the broadcasters and their self-regulating bodies.

    At present there are over 900 television channels that have been granted permission by MIB all of which are required to comply with the Programme and Advertising Code laid down under the Cable Television Network Rules.

  • Standing Committee wants complete digitisation before amending act on illegal channels

    Standing Committee wants complete digitisation before amending act on illegal channels

    NEW DELHI: A Parliamentary Standing Committee has opposed any amendments to the Cable Television Networks (Regulations) Act 1995 with regards to illegal channels.

     
    Information and Broadcasting Ministry sources told indiantelevision.com that the Committee on Information Technology in its 36th report observed that the requirement of amending legislation may not be feasible in view of the ongoing process of digitisation of cable network as it can provide solution to address the issue of showing illegal / unregistered channels on the cable networks.

     
    The Ministry had been informed by security agencies about carriage of some unregistered foreign channels by cable operators.

     
    To address the problem of carriage of unregistered channels by cable operators, the Ministry had introduced the Cable Television Networks (Regulation) Second Amendment Bill, 2011 in Lok Sabha on 15 December 2011 but this was referred to the Standing Committee.

     

    There are 93 private satellite TV channels which are Uplinked from outside India and have been granted permission to downlink in India under the policy guidelines for Downlinking of Television Channels.

     

    The scheme of enforcement envisaged under this Act is primarily through the authorized officers who are district magistrate, sub divisional magistrate and the commissioner of police of the State Governments.
     

    Whenever a complaint is brought to the notice of the Ministry, they are sent to the authorized officers since the action as per the Act primarily remains in the domain of authorized officers, the sources said.

     

  • Smaller ISPs exempted from reporting requirement if subscribers number is less than 10,000

    Smaller ISPs exempted from reporting requirement if subscribers number is less than 10,000

     NEW DELHI: The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) today decided to exempt internet service providers from the tariff reporting requirement during a financial year if the total number of its subscribers is less than ten thousand (<10,000) on the last day of the preceding financial year.

     
    It also said the existing exemption given to access service providers in respect of tariff schemes offered to bulk customer in response to a tender process or as a result of negotiations between the access provider and such bulk customer has been extended to the ISPs also.

     
    These directives came in the 59th Amendment to the Telecommunication Tariff Order (TTO) 1999.

     
    The amendment said exemption from tariff reporting requirement granted to the small ISPs did not mean that the regulatory principles, guidelines, etc. would not apply to them.

     
    However, keeping in view the small size of operations and resultant turnover of these small ISPs, the Authority feels that it is quite unlikely that these small-sized ISPs would violate the regulatory principles sought to be achieved by way of tariff reporting, especially in the competitive environment. Further, such exemption would help the small ISPs in reducing their compliance costs and once they achieve a subscriber base of 10,000 they will come under the ambit of tariff reporting requirement.

     
    In an explanatory memorandum to the Amendment, TRAI said clause 7 of the Telecommunication Tariff Order 1999 stipulated that all service providers shall comply with the reporting requirement in respect of tariffs specified for the first time and also all subsequent changes; provided that in respect of tariff plans offered by a telecom access provider to bulk customers, such as corporates, small and medium enterprises, institutions, etc. either in response to a tender process or as a result of negotiations between the access provider and such bulk customer, the reporting requirement shall not apply.

     
    The reporting requirement has been defined in clause 2 (l) of TTO 1999 as obligation of a service provider to report to the Authority, any new tariff for telecommunication  services    and/  or  any  changes  therein  within  seven working  days  from  the  date  of  implementation  of  the  said  tariff  for information and record of the Authority after conducting a self-check to ensure that the tariff plan(s) is/are consistent with the regulatory principles in all respects which inter-alia includes IUC compliance, non-discrimination and non-predation.

     
    The amendment followed comments received from ISPs to a draft amendment released by the Regulator in September.

     

    Click here to read the full amendment

    Click here to read the press release