TRAI issues consultation paper on regulatory framework for ground-based broadcasters

New Delhi: The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has released a consultation paper on the ‘Regulatory Framework for ground-based broadcasters’. 

Currently, broadcasters are required to use satellites to provide channels to distribution platform operators (DPOs). However, with advancements in technology, it is now feasible for broadcasters to use ground-based technologies to distribute their channels as well. 

Like traditional satellite-based channels, ground-based channels can be transmitted across multiple DPO networks simultaneously, allowing DPOs to retransmit them to subscribers on commercial terms.

Therefore, TRAI's consultation paper seeks to establish a regulatory framework that enables the use of ground-based technologies for television distribution. 

This initiative comes after TRAI forwarded its recommendations on the "Regulatory Framework for Platform Services" to the MIB in 2014, which included certain recommendations regarding ground-based broadcasters. 

In its letter dated May 22, 2024, the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (MIB) mentioned that the recommendations related to the regulation of platform services have been reviewed, and the guidelines for these services were approved by the Competent Authority on November 30, 2022.

MIB further mentioned that during the course of the examination of the recommendations of TRAI for the ground-based broadcasters in the Ministry, it was felt that the context in which the recommendations were made by TRAI may have changed since the year 2014 and there may be a need to look into the matter afresh. 

In light of these developments, the MIB asked TRAI to review and provide fresh recommendations on the regulatory framework for ground-based broadcasters, leading to the release of this consultation paper.

Stakeholders are invited to submit their written comments on the consultation paper by November 15, 2024. Counter-comments, if any, can be submitted by November 29, 2024. 

Comments are preferred in electronic form and can be sent to advbcs2@trai.gov.in and jtadv-bcs@trai.gov.in. The consultation paper is available on TRAI’s official website, www.trai.gov.in.