NEW DELHI: The draft Broadcast Bill, prepared by the information and broadcasting (I&B) ministry, has left out technologies related to the convergent era such as mobile TV and internet broadcast (IPTV).
According to an I&B ministry official, “broadcasting linked to convergence is not under our purview”.
This is despite the projected potential of mobile TV. According to a recent research by In-Stat, there will be 102 million mobile TV broadcast subscribers worldwide by the end of 2010, up from the current 3.4 million. Mobile TV is expected to have a large user base in India, as the country already has 101 million mobile phone connections and is expected to have at least 200 million cellphone subscribers by the end of 2007. India is one of the fastest growing telecom markets in the world.
This would mean that while cable TV broadcasters and direct-to-home (DTH) platforms have to adhere to the stipulations laid out in the Broadcast Bill, mobile phone service providers would be spared from following that rulebook. I&B ministry representatives argued that only when the definition of broadcasting is elaborated to make it technology-neutral, will convergent media like mobile TV be included in the Bill.
Meanwhile, the I&B ministry has sought inputs on the draft bill from the ministries of communications, information technology, space, home, finance, commerce, law and also the Planning Commission. The inputs are expected to be in by the end of this month, based on which the I&B ministry will prepare a note on the draft Broadcasting Bill, to be forwarded to the Union Cabinet. The draft Bill is likely to tabled in Parliament during the Monsoon session.
The draft Bill has proposed setting up of a Broadcast Regulatory Authority. Currently, the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) regulates the carriage aspects of broadcasting, in addition to the telecom sector. Besides proposing a separate broadcast regulator, which would issue licences to cable operators and MSOs, the Bill is reported to have recommended that foreign channels must have a minimum of 15% local content and that all channels should have at least 10% of public service content.
The Bill is also learnt to have proposed restriction on cross media ownership. It implies that no broadcast service provider can hold over 20% in another broadcasting platform.
