Trai to also regulate broadcasting

The government announced yesterday that the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) would act as a regulator for the broadcasting and cable TV industry.

Among other things, Trai will regulate the terms and conditions of broadcasting licences, revenue-sharing between various stakeholders and pay channel prices.

The government also amended the definition of telecom services to include broadcasting. Vinod Vaish, secretary, department of telecom, said: "The Trai Act was amended in 2000 to allow the inclusion of broadcasting under telecom services. We have used the provision of the Act. The information and broadcasting ministry will, however, continue to be the nodal ministry."

Commenting on his new responsibility, Pradip Baijal, chairman, Trai, said: "Our priority will always be to look after consumer interests. Just like we have been able to protect consumer interests in the telecom sector by ensuring low tariffs, we will do the same for the broadcasting sector and work on a resolution of all issues. The regulator will recommend measures to facilitate competition and promote efficiency in the operation of broadcasting services to facilitate their growth."

Industry observers said the government's decision to give Trai this additional responsibility was a result of its successful resolution of the vexed issue of limited mobility through the unification of telecom licences.

The move also put the final nail on the Convergence Bill, which was supposed to have set up a super regulator overlooking telecom, infotech and broadcasting.

One of the first issues that Baijal and his team will tackle will be the conditional access system (CAS), which has run into rough weather as there is no consensus within the industry on its implementation. It will also monitor pay channel prices "" a long-standing demand of the cable industry "" and regulate advertising on pay channels.

Trai will also look into the technological improvement in services, ensure compliance of licence terms and conditions and technical compatibility and inter-connection between different service providers. It will also regulate revenue sharing arrangements between broadcasting and cable operators.