DTH Guidelines will be totally revised – TRAI

New Delhi 10 December 2013-In the Open House Discussion held in New Delhi today at Ghalib Seminar Hall, TRAI Chairman, Dr. Rahul Khullar said that he will revise all DTH Guidelines and a new licence regime will be established on the lines of telecom industry for all DTH players.

Dr. Khullar stated that both regimes, old as well as new will run concurrently till all old licenses expire. However, option to shift to the new regime will be given to all old players and their entry fee for the remaining duration will be adjusted in the new entry fee.

Open House Discussion was held on the issues concerning renewal of expired DTH licenses and issue of new DTH licences. TRAI had earlier issued consultation papers on the subjects on 01 October 2013 and 14 October 2013 respectively and called for comments from all stakeholders.

Dr. Khullar also mentioned that since technical inter-operability was difficult to implement due to fast changes in STB technology. Commercial inter-operability will be made mandatory keeping consumer interest in mind.

Commercial interoperability means that consumers can return their STBs to the service providers and get a refund and with the money buy STBs from alternative operator of their choice. 

TRAI is framing new guidelines for obtaining licence for providing DTH broadcasting services in the country as the previous guidelines provided for issue of a licence for only 10 years with no provision for an extension or a renewal. 

The I&B ministry had asked TRAI to frame the guidelines as the licenses of most DTH operators were on the verge of expiry. 

At the meeting, TRAI asked DTH operators to give their views on the issues like entry fee and quantum thereof, period of extension of the DTH licence, inter-operability of STBs, cross holding and control etc.

Industry representatives said the new licenses should be given for a period which is reasonably long. They said if an operator violated rules, the government had the power to cancel the license. Some of the representatives suggested providing licenses for a period of 20 years. 

Mrs. Roop Sharma, President, Cable Operators Federation of India, requested that while framing guidelines for DTH operation, TRAI should ensure a level playing field with MSOs and LCOs of Cable TV industry who are licenced only for 10 years and one year respectively. 

At the end Dr. Khullar gave another three days till Friday (13th December) to stakeholders to submit any other points they had wish to make on these issues.

Source: http://cablequest.org/news/national-news/item/3799-dth-guidelines-will-be-totally-revised-%E2%80%93-trai.htmlSource: http://cablequest.org/news/national-news/item/3799-dth-guidelines-will-be-totally-revised-%E2%80%93-trai.html