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Tag: Trai

  • I&B Ministry may relax FTA channels from proposed 10+2 ad cap

    I&B Ministry may relax FTA channels from proposed 10+2 ad cap

    NEW DELHI: The News broadcasters, music channels as well as a few general entertainment channels are still fighting the case against the 12 minute advertising cap per hour proposed by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI). While they await the decision of the Delhi High Court, news is that the Information and Broadcasting Ministry (I&B) may consider a relaxation in the proposed ad cap for the Free to Air (FTA) channels as these channels depend only on commercials for survival.

     

    A source from the Ministry confirmed the news to indintelevision.com while adding that the ad cap fixed under the Cable Television Networks (Regulation) Act, 1995, was in view of the international practice in other countries.

     

    It was in March 2013, when the TRAI had notified the regulations, which restricted advertising time on TV channels to a maximum of 12 minutes per hour. The Regulator had then said that the move was to protect the interest of consumers and quality of service being offered to them.  

     

    I&B Minister Prakash Javadekar has assured the FTA channels at various forums that he would favourably consider their plea of scrapping the proposed 12 minute ad cap.

     

    The FTA channels claim that as they are pitted against pay channels, that also get subscription fee, there is a need for the government to intervene to create a level-playing field.

     

    Of the 810 channels approved by the government as of 31 August 2014, close to 548 are FTA, which include both news and non-news channels.

  • TRAI extends deadline for pre-consultation paper on standards of QoS amendments

    TRAI extends deadline for pre-consultation paper on standards of QoS amendments

    MUMBAI: Nearly a week after issuing the notification that the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) is looking at making amendments to the Standards of Quality of Service (digital addressable cable TV systems) (amendment) regulation 2012 (12 of 2012) for ensuring better billing practices by MSOs and LCOs, it has decided to extend the date for receiving comments from stakeholders.

     

    The earlier deadline of 8 September 2014 has been extended to 12 September 2014 on the request of stakeholders. However it states that no further extensions will be entertained.

     

    The amendment, when approved, will come into effect 30 days from the date of publication and will be called Standards of Quality of Service  (digital addressable cable TV systems) (amendment) Regulations 2014.

     

    TRAI says that the main purpose of issuing this new amendment was because it kept receiving complaints from subscribers about not getting proper bill and receipt. The regulator feels that financial disincentives should be levied on non-compliant MSOs and LCOS, similar to how it happens in the telecom field where this action has yielded result.

  • TRAI extends deadline to respond to consultation paper on AGR

    TRAI extends deadline to respond to consultation paper on AGR

    MUMBAI: The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has given a fresh lease of life to stakeholders to respond to its consultation paper on ‘Definition of Revenue Base (AGR) for the Reckoning of Licence Fee and Spectrum Usage Charges.’

     

    The extension has come after some stakeholders  requested for additional time of two weeks to complete the discussions among themselves to develop a unified approach by resolving various contentious issues.

     

    The  Authority has  considered their request and   decided  to  extend the  last date for  submission of  written comments to  15 September and   for counter  comments,  if  any,   to  22 September. TRAI has also clarified that there is no change in the date of the Open House Discussion on the consultation paper and will be held on 1 October in New Delhi.  

     

    It can be noted that the Authority had issued the consultation paper on  ‘Definition of Revenue Base  (AGR) for the  Reckoning of Licence  Fee and Spectrum Usage Charges’ on 31 July 2014 inviting comments  by  1 September and counter-comments by  8 September.

  • MIB warns MSOs against disconnection signals to LCOs

    MIB warns MSOs against disconnection signals to LCOs

    MUMBAI: The Government today warned multi-system operators against disconnecting signals of local cable operators without due notice specifying reasons and said any violation of this would viewed seriously and action against erring MSOs.

     

    The directive comes even as more than twenty cases are pending before the Telecom Disputes Settlement and Appellate Tribunal (TDSAT) relating to disconnection of signals by distributors to MSOs or MSOs to LCOs.

     

    The Information and Broadcasting Ministry said Chapter V of Standards of Quality of Service (Digital Addressable Cable Systems) Regulations 2012 issued by Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) is clear that ‘no multi system operator (MSO) shall disconnect the signals of a TV channel of a linked local cable operator, without giving three weeks’ notice to such local cable operator, clearly specifying the reasons for the proposed disconnection.’

     

    The Regulation further says notice of disconnection of signals of TV channels is also required to be published in two leading local newspapers of the State in which the service provider is providing the services, out of which one notice shall be published in the newspaper in the local language of the area.

     

    The Ministry said it had been brought to its notice that some MSOs are disconnecting signals to cable subscribers without giving any notice in violation of the Regulation.

     

    The Ministry said this is also in violation of the undertaking given by MSOs in form 2 of their application which states: ‘We shall ensure that my/our cable television network shall be run in accordance with the provisions of the Cable Television Network (Regulations) Act 1995 and the rules made thereunder, regulations, orders, guidelines or the directions issued by the Central Government or the Authority from time to time.’

  • TRAI asks stakeholders to give views on AGR

    TRAI asks stakeholders to give views on AGR

    NEW DELHI: The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has asked the stakeholders to give their views on their definition of adjusted gross revenue (AGR).

     

    In a pre-Consultation Paper on ‘Delinking of license for networks from delivery of services by way of virtual network operators,’ TRAI has also sought the views by 17 September on what will the model of agreement be between Network Service Operator (NSO) license and Service Delivery Operator license created under the draft National Telecom Policy 2011.

     

    It has asked if this would be left to the market or regulated like mandating NSOs to provide services to SDO licensees and mandating charges etc.

     

    In its Policy, Department of Telecom had said NSOs would be licensed to set up and maintain converged networks capable of delivering various types of services e.g. voice, data, video, broadcast, IPTV, VAS etc. in a non-exclusive and non-discriminatory manner.

     

    SDOs would be licensed to deliver the services e.g. teleservices (voice, data, video), internet/broadband, broadcast services, IPTV, Value Added Service and content delivery services etc.

     

    In its latest reference to TRAI, the DoT has envisaged the entry of Virtual Network Operators (VNOs) for delivery of services by delinking them from licensing of networks.

     

    Virtual Network Operators (VNOs) are SDO licensees who do not own the underlying network(s) but rely on the network and support of the infrastructure providers, telecommunications operators (who are owner(s) of towers, radio access networks, spectrum etc.) for providing telecom services to end users/customers. As these operators do not have their own networks, they are termed as Virtual Network Operators. VNOs can provide any telecom service being provided by the network providers viz. tele-services (voice, data, video), internet/broadband, IPTV, Value Added Services, content delivery services etc. The most popular among VNOs are Mobile Virtual Network operators(MVNOs).

     

    India is a diverse country, large in size and had very poor telecom networks when the government decided to open the sector to private participation.

     

    Therefore, in order to ensure development and proliferation of telecom infrastructure across the length and breadth of the country, the government took a conscious decision that all TSPs would have their own network for providing services to their customers. To meet this end, each TSP was mandated to comply with certain roll-out obligations and even sharing of infrastructure was not permitted initially. To encourage tower sharing amongst operators, the government initiated a project ‘Mobile Operator Shared Tower (MOST)’ in March 2006, and later on, in April 2008 sharing of active infrastructure, except spectrum, was also permitted.

     

    At present, most access providers are integrated operators who have their own infrastructure for both access and long distance services. Having already established their networks, the issue to deliberate upon is whether delinking the network from service delivery will have any effect on the working of these TSPs. The new licence regime has come into existence only about a year back.

     

    In the proposed licencing framework, based on the VNO model, one issue could be whether the existing TSPs, will have to obtain a NSO licence or both NSO & SDO licences on migration to the new licensing regime.

     

    A linked issue for deliberation will be about the necessity of changing the licensing regime at all, at such a short interval since UL was introduced.

     

    At present, there are 7-13 licensees in various service areas. Therefore, another issue for deliberation could be about the need for introduction of more competition in the form of VNOs.

     

    Apart from access services, for other services like V-SAT, PMRTS/CMRTS, GMPCS, it needs to be deliberated whether any business case/revenue potential exists for a standalone Virtual Operator for these services.

     

    In India, the TSPs have infrastructure, including spectrum, which is just about sufficient to cater to their own requirements. Would they really be able to spare their infrastructure for new SDOs, TRAI wants to know.

     

    It can also be deliberated whether the reference of DoT envisaged an entirely new licensing regime or could be considered to mean that a chapter may be added to the existing UL for facilitating licenses to the VNO.

  • ‘Super Regulator’ to replace TRAI, TDSAT

    ‘Super Regulator’ to replace TRAI, TDSAT

    MUMBAI: After scrapping the planning commission, the Modi government is thinking about clipping the wings of the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI).

     

    According to a CNBC TV-18 story, the government is planning on a new super regulator for the communications sector. To be called Communications Commission, it will not only retain powers that TRAI enjoys, but also look into other matters concerning other regulators as well like Censor Board, some clearances from Ministry Of Environment, Competition Commission of India and the Department of Telecommunications.

     

    Moreover, the bill will also replace the Telecom Disputes Settlement Appellate Tribunal (TDSAT) with a new appellate body called the Communications Appellate Tribunal, which will have three members and a chairman. According to the report, this tribunal will also have the power to oversee dispute resolution.

     

    The communications bill seeks to replace all old and redundant legislations which include the Telegraph Act and TRAI Act. The Bill proposes a six member regulator with one chairman, who will have five year tenure. The member will include one each from sectors like telecom, broadcasting, finance, management, accountancy and either law or consumer affairs.

  • One more week to respond to TRAI paper on resolving issue of the controversial AGR for broadcast, telecom

    One more week to respond to TRAI paper on resolving issue of the controversial AGR for broadcast, telecom

    NEW DELHI: The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has decided to give one last opportunity to stakeholders to respond to its consultation paper on a review of the definition of Gross Revenue (GR) and the permissible deductions to arrive at Adjusted Gross Revenue (AGR) in the context of the National Telecom Policy 2012 in view of a multitude of cases by both telecom and broadcast operators.

     

    Stakeholders have been given one extra week and can respond to the 24 questions raised by the Authority by 8 September with counter comments if any by 15 September. This is being done in view of the important issues involved, but TRAI said no further opportunities would be given.

     

     The Authority will also examine the components of GR, AGR and minimum presumptive AGR, rates of licence fee and spectrum usage charges, formats of statements of revenue and licence fee, and audit and verifiability of revenue and licence fee.

     

    The paper on ‘Definition of Revenue Base (AGR) for the Reckoning of Licence Fee and Spectrum Usage Charges’ will also examine the changes made in the licensing regime, the transition from the administrative allocation regime towards market-determined prices for spectrum, and the conclusion of tenure of many licences. The paper provides the relevant background information on the subject covering various issues involved.

     

    On the definition of AGR specifically, the Authority had in 2012 recommended that only the revenue from the wireless services shall count towards AGR calculation for the limited purpose of calculation of Spectrum Usage Charges (SUC) that would continue to be determined on service area basis, and should be levied only in respect of those service areas where the Licensee holds any access spectrum.

     

    TRAI wants to know whether there is a need to review/revise the definition of GR and AGR in the different licences at this stage; the guiding principles for designing the framework of the revenue sharing regime; and whether the rate of licence fee (LF) be reviewed instead of changing the definitions of GR and AGR, especially with regard to the component of USO levy In the interest of simplicity, verifiability, and ease of administration.

     

    The paper also wants to know whether the revenue base for levy of licence fee and spectrum usage charges include the entire income of the licensee or only income accruing from licenced activities if the definitions are to be reviewed/revised.

     

    It has asked whether LF be levied as a percentage of GR in place of AGR in the interest of simplicity and ease of application, and should the revenue base for calculating LF and SUC include ‘other operating revenue’ and ‘other income’.

     

    The government prepared a draft licence agreement for International Long Distance (ILD) services in September 2000 containing a provision that LF was payable as a percentage of revenue. For the Public Mobile Radio Trunk Service (PMRTS) too, the revenue share regime was made applicable from 1 November 2001.

     

    The definition of AGR has been litigated since 2003. TSPs questioned the inclusion of various components of revenue in the reckoning of AGR as well as the legality of the definition before TDSAT. In 2006, TDSAT, after noting that revenue from non-licensed activities needed to be excluded from the reckonable revenue, asked TRAI to make recommendations on the inclusion or exclusion of the disputed items in the AGR. TRAI made its recommendations on 13 September 2006 and the Tribunal gave its final order in the matter on 30 August 2007 after accepting most (but modifying some) of TRAI’s recommendations.

     

     In the course of finalising the recommendations of the Authority on the reference from TDSAT, the views of DoT were obtained by the Authority through its representative and incorporated in the “Recommendations on components of Adjusted Gross Revenue” dated 13 September 2006. The Authority was informed that the basic rationale adopted by the government while formulating the definition of AGR was that it should be easy to interpret – so as to pose fewer problems in application and less disputes and litigations, and to make it less prone to reduction in LF liability by way of accounting jugglery; and it should be easy to verify.

     

    The TDSAT’s judgment of 30 August 2007 was taken in appeal by DoT to the Supreme Court and was set aside by its judgment on 11 October 2011 on the grounds, among others, that TDSAT had no jurisdiction to decide the validity of the terms and conditions of the licence including the definition of AGR incorporated in the licence agreement. It was for DoT – and not TRAI and TDSAT – to take a final decision on the definition of AGR. The Supreme Court also held that a licensee can raise a dispute about the computation of AGR relating to a particular demand and that TDSAT can then examine whether the demand was in accordance with the licence agreement and the definition of AGR. 

     

    The judgment of the Supreme Court settled important points of law and has clarified the nature of the contractual relationship between the government as licensor and the TSPs. The judgment also laid down the parameters of institutional responsibility in arriving at the contractual terms and conditions; it held that: Litigation regarding the computation of LF continues before the TDSAT in the case of individual demands made on TSPs. It has also been reported that writ petitions re-agitating the revenue share definition have been filed by TSPs in different High Courts.

  • Govt. rejects TRAI proposal for lower reserve fee for FM phase III auctions

    Govt. rejects TRAI proposal for lower reserve fee for FM phase III auctions

    NEW DELHI: The recommendations by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) to review the reserve price for FM phase III auctions have not found favour with the Information and Broadcasting (I&B) Ministry.

       

    TRAI had recommended a change, after going through the views expressed by radio channel operators and new stakeholders that the price was too high.

     

    However, the Ministry has pointed out to TRAI that the reserve price was fixed by a Group of Ministers and later approved by the Union Cabinet.

     

    TRAI had expressed apprehensions that the auctions could be jeopardized since many operators felt the price was too prohibitive. The phase III reserve fee formula (highest bid of phase II), has already led to a lot of opposition from broadcasters.

     

    When asked if this would lead to lesser number of bidders for phase III, I&B secretary Bimal Julka told indiantelevision.com, “We will cross the bridge when we come to it. At this moment, I can only say that we have accepted the TRAI recommendations with some exceptions.” 

    When the process begins – hopefully expected to start by October as indicated by Ministry sources – phase III is set for auction of 839 FM channels across 294 cities. These sources did not feel the reserve price was a major issue as the players likely to bid for the channel are large parties.

     

    However, the Ministry sees nothing wrong with the TRAI recommendation of allowing 15-year licence period for operators migrating from phase II to phase III as phase II had provided for 10 years of licence.

     

    TRAI had also recommended a lower minimum channel spacing of 400KHz for FM radio broadcast, as against 800KHz now, to allow more radio stations which has not been accepted by the Ministry. 

    The recent 2G auctions which came as a result of an order of the Apex Court had justified the need for a low reserve fees.

     

  • Community Radio Stations to get extension for up to 5 years at a time

    Community Radio Stations to get extension for up to 5 years at a time

    NEW DELHI: Even as the term of permission for community radio stations (CRS) should continue to be five years, the extension should also be for five years at a time.

     

    In recommendations made relating to community radio stations in the country, the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has said CRS seeking extension should submit an application and verification to the terms and conditions of the permission in the fourth year of operation.

     

    CRSs should be allowed to broadcast news and current affairs content, sourced exclusively from AIR, in its original form or translated into the local language/ dialect. It will be the responsibility of the CRS permission holder to ensure that the news is not distorted during translation.

     

    CRSs should be allowed to take advertisements from other sources to encourage self-sustainability and enhance its relevance to the community, and the stipulation that Directorate of Advertising and Visual Publicity approved rates are their lowest rates and cannot be offered to any other agency should be relaxed.

     

    The Information and Broadcasting Ministry should develop a performance evaluation format in consultation with the stakeholders and place it in the public domain.

     

    CRSs applying for extension beyond 10 years should submit the performance evaluation report, duly filled in, along with their application one year before end of the permission period. The application for extension will be considered along with other fresh applications, if any.

     

    The same procedure will be adopted for all applications for extension beyond 10 years of operation.

     

    The duration of advertisement on a CRS should continue to be five minutes per hour.

     

    The Ministry should establish an online ‘single window’ system that will reengineer and integrate the entire process from the stage of filing application with MIB; grant of the Wireless Operating Licence (WOL) by WPC and signing of the GOPA. The online system must provide feedback on stage and status of the application in accordance with the time-lines already prescribed by the Ministry.

     

    The National Disaster Management Authority in consultation with the I& B Ministry and WPC establish detailed guidelines for use of CRSs in disaster management operations. The guidelines should include the procedure to be followed in case relocation of an existing CRS is required or for the establishment of a new CRS in the disaster affected region.

     

    As on 1 July 2014, 200 Grant of Permission Agreements (GOPA) have been signed. Of these 170 CRSs are operational 101 CRSs of which are run by educational institutes and universities, six by Krishi Vigyan Kendras and the rest 63 by civil society organisations. Currently, CRSs in rural and remote areas are generally being run by NGOs and campus CRSs by educational institutions mostly in urban and semi-urban areas.

     

    The TRAI recommendations are in response to a letter sent by the government on 8 January. As validity of GOPA for some of the CRSs had already expired on completion of five years, TRAI suggested some interim measures on 23 January. TRAI also issued a Consultation Paper on the subject on 21 May.

     

    The government announced its policy for the grant of permission for setting up of CRS in December 2002. Under those guidelines well established educational institutions, including IITs and IIMs, were permitted to setup CRSs.

     

    In December 2006, the government revised the policy for CRSs, bringing non-profit community based organisations, apart from other educational institutes, within its ambit. Non-profit organisations like civil society and voluntary organisations, state agriculture universities (SAU), Indian council of agricultural research (ICAR) institutions, Krishi Vigyan Kendras, registered societies and autonomous bodies and public trusts registered under Societies Act or any other such Act relevant for the purpose, were permitted to operate CRSs.

     

    The period of permission was increased three years to five years. All the operational CRS permission holders under the 2002 guidelines were permitted to migrate to the new policy regime without any financial implications.

  • TRAI blames MSOs and LCOs for delay in DAS implementation

    TRAI blames MSOs and LCOs for delay in DAS implementation

    MUMBAI: The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has come up with certain amendments to the Standards of Quality of Service (digital addressable cable TV systems) (amendment) regulation 2012 (12 of 2012). The regulation has laid down norms for billing of subscribers in digital addressable system (DAS) areas.

     

    It says that even after coming up with the QoS regulation, it kept receiving several complaints from subscribers about not getting proper bill and receipt. Subsequently, the regulator issued a direction in December 2013 directing MSOs to offer prepaid and postpaid payment options, generate bills and issue receipts.

     

    It also made a team consisting of representatives from TRAI and the Broadcast Engineers Consultant India Limited (BECIL) to inspect the head-end and subscriber management system (SMS) of MSOs in Delhi. During the inspection it noticed non-compliance by cable operators. Some cable ops are not offering prepaid option of payment while those who did offer, didn’t give an option of electronic payment.

     

    It again issued a direction on 27 May 2014 to ensure bill delivery either by hand, post or e-mail, within 45 days of the direction to provide online payment option in its SMS, electronic acknowledgement to subscribers on payment. MSOs and LCOs are still delaying implementation of the same.

     

    Since no details are being inserted in the SMS, it is hampering the transparency of financial transactions between MSOs and LCOs thereby affecting smooth implementation of DAS.

     

    TRAI states that ‘in the absence of proper billing and accounting of receipts, there is a distinct possibility of loss of revenue accruable to government’.

     

    Due to all these reasons, the regulator feels that financial disincentives should be levied on non-compliant MSOs and LCOS, similar to how it happens in the telecom field where this action has yielded result.

     

    For non-compliance of issuing bills, a disincentive of not exceeding Rs 20 per subscriber will be levied on the MSO and/or its linked cable operator and for the second time, penalty would be Rs 50. For non-compliance of regulations, Rs 100 will be penalised on each MSO for each contravention. If the MSO and LCO have entered into an agreement, both of them will be penalised for faults while in the case of no deal being signed, only the MSO is liable to pay.

     

    The regulator says that the MSO may offer multiple denomination schemes for recharging, with an expectation that monthly recharge schemes would be one of the options.

     

    Another amendment that has been suggested is to ensure that bills have service tax registration number and entertainment tax registration number of either the MSO or the linked cable operator.

     

    However, before imposing penalties, TRAI will give opportunities to the concerned MSO or LCO to represent its case.

     

    The amendment, when approved, will come into effect 30 days from the date of publication and will be called Standards of Quality of Service  (digital addressable cable TV systems) (amendment) Regulations 2014.

     

    Stakeholders can provide comments before 8 September.

     

    Click here for the press release

     

    Click here for the amendment