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The information & broadcasting ministry has approved 70 multi-system operators and would consider applications for 200 television channels.
“We have so far approved 70 new multi-system operators in the country,” Bimal Julka, secretary, I&B ministry, told Business Standard. “We are still awaiting clearance from the home ministry as far as the 200 new channels are concerned.”
Multi-system operators (MSOs) are those with multiple cable television systems. India has 115 multi-system operators, including Den Networks and Hathway Cable.
The approvals for the 70 multi-system operators come at a time when the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) had proposed various measures to regulate MSOs. According to the recommendations, no single MSO can have more than 50 per cent of the market share in a state.
“Market dominance should be determined based on the market share in terms of the number of active subscribers (registered users) of MSOs in the relevant market,” TRAI had said.
The I&B ministry had last month approved 45 channels after the home ministry cleared the proposals. STAR, Sone, Viacom and Zee were among the broadcasters that secured licences to start channels. Currently, 350 broadcasters account for 780 channels in the country.
The I&B ministry is in talks with various stakeholders to decide on a policy allowing news programmes on private FM channels. It is ready to roll out the e-auction for more than 849 radio licences. “We are currently considering it and we will soon have the e-auction of new licences in FM radio,” Julka added.
On the issue of security clearance provided to broadcasters, Julka said that the ministry has already written to the home ministry to fix the tenure of security clearance for a period of 10 years as against a home ministry proposal to fix it at 3 years. Broadcasters in the country had raised concerns after the home ministry decided to fix the tenure of security clearance for 3 years.
India is currently in the midst of a nationwide digitisation program and the ministry is currently in the midst of assessing the impact of the first two phases before rolling out the third and fourth phase of digitisation, which is expected to be completed by December 2014.
Meanwhile, Public Broadcaster, Prasar Bharati is also expecting recommendations from a committee headed by Sam Pitroda, to restructure operations of the company. The committee is expected to recommend greater autonomy and minimal interference from the government, which is likely to help its expansion plan. "The recommendations will be submitted in a few days", Pitroda had earlier told Business Standard.
