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Tag: Telecom Regulatory Authority of India TRAI

  • TRAI releases consultation paper on Telecom Act 2023 network authorisations

    TRAI releases consultation paper on Telecom Act 2023 network authorisations

    Mumbai: On 22 October, the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) released a consultation paper regarding the terms and conditions for network authorisations under the Telecom Act, 2023. This 166-page document, which includes 37 questions, invites written comments from stakeholders by 12 November  2024 and counter-comments by 19 November 2024.

    The paper follows a request from the Department of Telecommunications (DoT), made in a letter dated 26 July, seeking recommendations on terms and conditions, including fees, for establishing, operating, maintaining, or expanding telecommunications networks under the Telecom Act, 2023. Additionally, in a letter dated 17 October, DoT asked TRAI to consider authorising satellite communication networks under the Act.

    The consultation paper explores several key issues, such as which telecommunications equipment should fall under ‘in-building solutions’ (IBS). It also seeks views on whether the scopes of Infrastructure Provider-I (IP-I) and Digital Connectivity Infrastructure Provider (DCIP) authorisations should be merged. If this merger is deemed necessary, TRAI has asked for input on eligibility requirements, scope of operation, validity period, and terms for the combined authorisation.

    Furthermore, the paper addresses Satellite Earth Station Gateway (SESG) authorisation, asking for stakeholder opinions on the matter.

  • Union government issues new rules under Telecommunication Act 2023

    Union government issues new rules under Telecommunication Act 2023

    Mumbai: The Union government has issued new rules under the Telecommunication Act 2023, specifying that only a secretary to the government or officials of equivalent rank are eligible to be the chairman of the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI).

    An official stated, “Section 59(b) of the Act amends section 4 of the TRAI Act 1997, detailing the criteria for appointing the Chairperson and Members of TRAI.”

    The government, last month, implemented certain sections of the Act starting from 26 June. These include a rule allowing the government to assume control and management of any or all telecommunication services or networks in the interest of national security, friendly relations with foreign states, or during wartime.

    “The Central Government has appointed June 26, 2024, as the date for the enforcement of Sections 1, 2, 10 to 30, 42 to 44, 46, 47, 50 to 58, 61, and 62 of the Telecommunications Act, 2023 (44 of 2023),” stated the notification last month.

    Since 5 July, some rules under these sections have been effective including the criteria for appointing the chairperson and members of TRAI.

    The new rule restricts sector experts with professional experience in telecommunications, industry, finance, accountancy, law, etc., from becoming the TRAI Chairperson. The new act states, “A person who is or has been in government service shall not be appointed as Chairperson unless they have held the post of Secretary to the Government of India or an equivalent position in the central or state government.”

    Other features of the sections effective from 5 July include the optimal utilisation of spectrum. The Act provides a legal framework for efficient use of scarce spectrum through secondary assignment, sharing, trading, leasing, and surrender of spectrum. It allows the spectrum to be used in a flexible, liberalised, and technologically neutral manner and empowers the Central Government to establish an enforcement and monitoring mechanism.

    Also there is a prohibition on using equipment that blocks telecommunications unless permitted by the central government.

  • TRAI meets access providers, RBI, SEBI, IRDAI, banks and other financial entities

    TRAI meets access providers, RBI, SEBI, IRDAI, banks and other financial entities

    Mumbai: TRAI convened a meeting on 14 June 2024 which was attended by the representatives from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI), the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI), more than 25 Banks and other Financial Institutions including Government, Private and Global Banks, Members of Association of National Exchanges Members of India (ANMI) and all the Telecom Service Providers.

    Key points deliberated during the meeting include the following

    a.) On the recommendations of TRAI, 160 series has been allocated exclusively for making transactional and service voice calls. In the first stage, it has been earmarked for all entities regulated by RBI, SEBI, IRDAI and PFRDA. Once it is implemented, it shall help in the easy identification of the calling entity and will prevent the duping of innocent citizen from the fraudsters. The meeting provided a platform for exchange of ideas amongst the regulators, entities and telecom service providers regarding the effective utilisation of this series. It was also discussed that the operation of 140 series, at present being used for promotional purposes, is being migrated to DLT platform and scrubbing of digital consent is also being operationalized. With the implementation of the above two measures, substantial control on spam calls from 10-digit numbers is expected.

    b.) The Digital Consent Facility (DCA) established by Telecom Service Providers under TRAI’s TCCCPR-2018 Regulations was discussed in detail. The DCA facility enables acquisition of digital consent of the customer and further enables Senders such as banks, insurance companies and other entities to send promotional communications over SMS and voice to customers irrespective of their DND status.

    c.) The role and obligations of senders such as banks, insurance companies and other entities with respect to TRAI regulations was also deliberated and it was decided to whitelist URLs/ Apks in the content templates, use of minimum number of headers and content templates, taking immediate action against the entity/ TM in case of misuse of senders’ credential etc.

    All the regulators, banks and other financial institutions emphasized the need to work collaboratively to curb the menace of spam, particularly through voice calls and assured all cooperation for implementation of various initiatives by TRAI in a time bound manner. 

  • Vodafone Idea lost 4 mn wireless subscribers in September 2022: Trai

    Vodafone Idea lost 4 mn wireless subscribers in September 2022: Trai

    Mumbai: As per subscription data by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai), Reliance Jio added 0.72 million wireless subscribers at the end of September 2022. Bharti Airtel added 0.41 million subscribers during the same period. Vodafone Idea, on the other hand, lost 4 million wireless subscribers.

    The total number of wireless subscribers decreased to 1,145.45 million at the end of September 2022, in comparison to 1,149.11 million at the end of August 2022.

    The number of wireless subscribers in urban areas increased from 627.09 million to 627.14 million for the same period, while in rural areas it decreased from 522.02 million to 518.31 million.

    In September 2022, as per Trai data, there were 1,013.97 million active wireless subscribers. Reliance Jio had the highest number of active wireless subscribers at 386.08 million during the period, followed by Bharti Airtel at 358.99 million and Vodafone Idea at 212.19 million. From public-sector units, BSNL had 56.23 million active wireless subscribers.

    As per information received from 846 operators in September 2022, Trai found that total broadband subscribers increased from 813.94 million to 816.24 million. In September 2022, the broadband subscribers comprised 783.99 million mobile device users, 31.09 million wired subscribers, and 1.15 million fixed wireless subscribers.

    The top five service providers constituted 98.36 per cent of the total broadband subscribers at the end of September 2022. These service providers were Reliance Jio Infocomm with 426.80 million subscribers, followed by Bharti Airtel (225.09 million), Vodafone Idea (123.20 million), BSNL (25.62 million), and Atria Convergence (2.14 million).

    The top wired broadband service providers included are Reliance Jio Infocomm with 6.83 million subscribers, followed by Bharti Airtel (5.27 million), BSNL (3.91 million), Atria Convergence (2.14 million), and Hathway Cable & Datacom (1.13 million).

    Reliance Jio Infocomm, with 419.97 million subscribers, is followed by Bharti Airtel (219.82 million), Vodafone Idea (123.20 million), BSNL (21.71 million), and Intech Online (0.23 million) in the list of the top five wireless broadband service providers.

    The number of wireline subscribers increased from 25.97 million in September 2022 compared to 26.47 million in August 2022.

    The number of telephone subscribers decreased from 1,175.08 million to 1,171.92 million during the same period.

    Both urban and rural telephone subscribers recorded increases in numbers from 651.07 million to 651.61 million and 524.01 million to 520.30 million, respectively, at the end of September 2022.

    Also, during the same period, a total of 11.97 million requests were received for mobile number portability (MNP).

  • Reliance Jio adds 3.28 mn wireless subscribers in August : Trai

    Reliance Jio adds 3.28 mn wireless subscribers in August : Trai

    Mumbai: As per subscription data by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai), Reliance Jio added 3.28 million wireless subscribers at the end of August. Bharti Airtel added 0.32 million during the same period. In August, Vodafone Idea lost 1.95 million wireless subscribers.

    The total number of wireless subscribers increased from 1,148.03 million to 1,149.11 million in August. The number of wireless subscribers in urban areas increased from 626.74 million to 627.09 million. However, wireless subscriptions in rural areas increased from 521.29 million to 522.02 million.

    As per Trai data, there were 1013.46 million active wireless subscribers during the month. Reliance Jio had the highest number of active wireless subscribers at 384.63 million, followed by Bharti Airtel at 357.66 million and Vodafone Idea at 214.29 million. BSNL had 56.23 million active wireless subscribers.

    As per information received from 767 operators in August, Trai found that total broadband subscribers increased from 807.42 million to 813.94 million. The broadband subscribers comprised 782.46 mobile device users, 30.37 million wired subscribers, and 1.11 million fixed wireless subscribers.

    The top five broadband service providers were Reliance Jio Infocomm with 425.80 million subscribers, followed by Bharti Airtel (223.98 million), Vodafone Idea (123.12 million), BSNL (25.80 million), and Atria Convergence (2.13 million).

    The top five wired broadband service providers were Reliance Jio Infocomm with 6.56 million subscribers, followed by Bharti Airtel (5.13 million), BSNL (3.88 million), Atria Convergence (2.13 million) and Hathway Cable & Datacom (1.13 million).

    The top five wireless broadband service providers were Reliance Jio Infocomm (419.24 million), Bharti Airtel (218.85 million), Vodafone Idea (123.12 million), BSNL (21.92 million) and Intech Online (0.23 million).

    The number of wireline subscribers increased from 25.63 million to 25.97 million in August.

    The number of telephone subscribers in India increased from 1,173.66 million to 1,175.08.66 million. Urban telephone subscriptions increased from 650.40 million to 651.07 million. However, rural subscriptions also increased from 523.26 million to 524.01 million.

    During August, a total of 11.35 million requests were received for mobile number portability (MNP).

  • DTH service providers say STB interoperability unlikely to succeed in current conditions

    DTH service providers say STB interoperability unlikely to succeed in current conditions

    MUMBAI: Tata Sky, Dish TV and Hathway – Indian direct to home (DTH) service providers have provided their inputs to Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI)’s consultation paper on the issue related to interoperability of set-top-boxes (STB).

    According to Tata Sky’s response, having interoperable STBs will not be desirable due to commercial, technical, security and service-related reasons. The response stated that interoperability will only be viable if the new design of STB will have a reasonable cost with highest standards of quality, but not have any detrimental impact on the STB’s security and privacy features. The current STB ecosystem allows operators to provide secure solutions like HDCP, water-marking, fingerprint, among others at an optimum cost. The serious concern is, will third party manufacturers, developers be able to maintain the same security standards in the interoperable STB?

    As different operators keep entering the market at different points of time, operators use different compressions standards like MPEG2, MPEG4, HEVC, among others. The presence of multiple compression standards comes in the way of interoperability. As the STB model, functionality, processor speed, memory, software configuration, encryption and transmission standards are different with different operators, this will lead to serious compatibility issues if interoperability is attempted.

    The interoperable STB would soon get outdated and obsolete as a requirement would arise for operators to upgrade their STBs. The operator would get stifled by the slow pace of upgrade.

    The BIS standardisation process of various STB features would require significant cost and long gestation period. In the current scenario of the sector, with aggressive and unregulated competition coming in from OTT and mobile operators, STB interoperability is not feasible.

    According to Dish TV’s response, TRAI envisaged that it is not desirable to roll out interoperable STBs for a number of reasons, apart from the technical factors elaborated by Dish TV.  The response states that the dynamics of the STB industry are very rapid and will enable new product cycles at relatively low cost and advanced features which will get impeded, if an elaborated mechanism of interoperability including that of digital video broadcast (DVB)-C and DVB-T will be gone through. It will increase the cost at the same time disproportionately.

    TRAI should not ignore the devices including the STBs the come with broadband and OTT delivery, which are the rapidly gaining segments, having their own technologies of DRM and content protection, based on two way interconnectivity rather than one way DSA and key transfer algorithms.

    The structure of STBs vary in the cable and DTH segments, which does not warrant any interoperability to be mandated between them. DTH STBs have multiple functions that become redundant in cable-based STBs and vice versa.

    Hathway believes that there should be a provision for interoperability of STBs because with the rapid technological advancement, it will provide lot of options to subscribers. The concept is in a preliminary stage and there are not any known examples of STB interoperability available in any other country. The concept could proceed in India methodically but also need to think about various aspects and interests of all the stakeholders involved in the broadcast service value chain.

    At present, the STB architecture is designed in a way which meets the requirements of conditional access system (CAS). STB needs to be tightly bound with the CAS system for content security, which requires some parts of the CAS software to be hardcoded in the STB chipset during the manufacturing process, because of which not all chipsets support all available CAS systems. CAS is a very important component in the eco system of digital TV service. It defines the content security, specifies minimum requirement of STB’s CPU, RAM and FLASH memory, operating system and the requirement of a critical head end component – Multiplexer (MUX).

    MUX is used to encrypt channels based on ECMs generated by the CAS systems. All CAS systems have different methods of generating ECMs, that depends on various parameters like service ID, transport stream ID, source channel, session ID, among others. The length of ECMs varies in different CAS systems, which makes it difficult for MUX vendors to support all available CAS systems.

    The benefits of interoperability cannot be passed on to the subscribers in the case of an MSO, since its functioning is restricted to a specific area. The infrastructure and the set up for provision of services with a MSO and a DTH operator are completely different. The provision of service with a DTH operator is a wireless infrastructure, while with a MSO is a wired set up and depends on a local cable operator for end mile connectivity. A DTH operator can have a boundless reach, but MSO will have a limitation of reach due to infrastructure and geographical conditions.

    Due to the disparity in re-transmission infrastructure of a DTH operator and MSO, the DTH operator will not be in a position to give access to subscribers or customers of a MSO. Hence, STB interoperability for MSO and DTH operators should not be allowed.