Cable capers
NEW DELHI: The government is looking at framing regulations for Internet Protocol Television (IPTV) and mobile TV soon, it is learnt. However, the proposed broadcast bill is not likely to touch upon these issues. While the broadcast bill is the brainchild of the information and broadcasting (I&B) ministry, IPTV and mobile TV rules will be more in the domain of the ministries of information technology and communication.
Commenting on why the draft broadcast bill has left out technologies related to the convergent era such as mobile TV and internet broadcast (IPTV), an I&B ministry official said, “Broadcasting linked to convergence is not under our purview”.
Since the new technologies are being projected as a growth area, the government is mulling over ways to regulate the same. 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. In India too, mobile TV holds promise, mainly because of the large cell phone user base.
The country already has 117 million mobile phone connections and the figure is expected to touch a subscriber base of 200 million by the end of 2007. The government is targeting a total of 250 million phones in India by the end of 2007, out of which 200 million would be mobiles.
The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) had recently proposed amendments in the Cable Television Networks (Regulation) Act and telecom licence agreement to keep IPTV (Internet protocol television) outside the definition of cable services.
While the Cable TV Act talks about the use of equipment conforming to Indian standards, different protocols are used by companies in the case of IPTV. Also, there’s no clarity on the applicability of FDI norms, programme codes and downlinking guidelines to IPTV.
During a TRAI consultation process on the issue, industry stakeholders pointed out that an amendment to the Cable TV Act is necessary because of the time gap between the introduction of cable TV and IPTV in the country.
The specific concern is over the section 2 (b) of the Cable TV Act which states, “Cable service means the transmission by cables of programmes including re-transmission by cables of any broadcast television signals”. The regulator has suggested that Section 2 (b) should be revised to “Cable service means the transmission by cables of programmes including re-transmission by cables of any broadcast TV signals, but does not include video services offered by Unified Access Service Licence holders on their networks”.
Another definition, according to TRAI, could be, “Cable service means the transmission by cables of programmes including re-transmission by cables of any broadcast TV signals, but does not include video services offered by any licensee under the Indian Telegraph Act, 1885, or the Indian Wireless Telegraphy Act, 1933, under the said licence”.
TRAI has also suggested an amendment to the Unified Access Service Licence (UASL) agreement, stating that the access service providers shall ensure compliance with the programme code, advertisement code and other guidelines issued on broadcasting content by the government in respect of video services provided by them”.
