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Our Bureau

New Delhi , Feb. 25

THE Telecom Regulatory Authority of India today issued a consultation paper on permitting the private sector to launch terrestrial broadcasting services.

The regulator is seeking views on whether terrestrial broadcasting should be thrown open to the private sector, what should the foreign direct investment and portfolio investment limits. Also, it has sought feedback on the licensing conditions. "In case licences are allowed only for digital terrestrial television broadcasting, there would not be a likelihood of changes in technology in the near future. In such a case a longer licence period could be laid down," it said.

It has further suggested that a revenue share based licence fee regime with a one-time entry fee along with annual revenue share as recommended by the Authority for the second phase of private FM radio broadcasting may be a viable option. The advantage of such a regime is that the licence fee grows with the revenues of the broadcaster. However, in case there are very few applicants for private terrestrial television broadcasting service licence, the bidding process may not be the best way to determine the entry fee, it said.

However, TRAI is seeking comments on whether a licence fee should be imposed or not, given the high capital investment costs and risk associated with the establishment of the service, whether a revenue share system would be more appropriate or not. It is also seeking views on whether the licences for private operators should be given on national, regional or city basis.

While admitting that there is likely to be very little interest in case private terrestrial television broadcasting is restricted to digital format only because of non-existence of digital receivers in the country. Consumers are not likely to buy digital set-top boxes/ TVs to view channels that they are already getting through cable TV. However, some of the terrestrial television broadcasting technologies such as Multichannel Multipoint Distribution Service may be attractive to some service providers in certain areas. Currently, there is no policy for terrestrial television broadcasting by private service providers.

Therefore, it is desirable to have a policy framework in place for adoption of such alternative technologies.

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