TRAI sets Aug 21 deadline for inter-connection agreements

Multi System Operators (MSOs) and broadcasters have been given a fresh deadline of August 21 by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) to sign their inter-connection agreements.

The MSOs missed the July 31 deadline fixed by the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting.

Inter-connection agreements determine the price and the terms at which content is shared and carried by the stakeholders on their platforms.

In a meeting held with the stakeholders on 9 August 2012, TRAI is learnt to have pulled up industry players for this delay. TRAI officials are learnt to have said that if the new deadline is not met, it will intervene and set a statutory price at which these agreements will have to be signed.

Industry players said there were delays because both carriage as well as subscription fees have to be negotiated among broadcasters and MSOs. Avnindra Mohan, President-Legal and Regulatory Affairs, Essel Group, said, “It will be of mutual benefit for MSOs and broadcasters to negotiate their inter-connection agreements instead of the regulator fixing the price.”

These agreements are crucial for digitisation to be implemented in the four metros by October 31.

According to the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, Mumbai was the only city which had touched the 50 per cent digitisation mark, while other cities such as New Delhi and Kolkata have seen fewer homes being digitised. In Mumbai, there is an estimated requirement of 34.85 lakh set-top boxes and so far 17.07 lakh set-top boxes have been installed.

Source: http://cablequest.org/news/cable-news/item/323-trai-sets-aug-21-deadline-for-inter-connection-agreements.html
Source: http://cablequest.org/news/cable-news/item/323-trai-sets-aug-21-deadline-for-inter-connection-agreements.html