Trai paper says telecom cos can offer mobile TV

In a move that will be detrimental to cable distribution and media companies, Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) has said that telecom operators can offer mobile television to their subscribers while others will have to take licence to offer mobile TV.

This means that telecom companies having the United Access Service License (UASL) agreement will automatically get the licence to offer mobile TV to their subscribers without any further requirement while broadcasters and other media companies will have to take seperate licences for mobile TV if they want to offer the service. 

Trai, in its consultation paper on mobile television, also says that the telecom operaters will have access to television channels offered by the broadcasters as they are already included as the distributor of TV channels under the interconnection regulations of Trai. 

Stakeholders have been given 12 days to respond to the consultation paper.

Mobile television refers to services offered to subscribers for viewing on handheld or portable devices such as mobile phones. The television content can be provided through the mobile telecommunications networks or by using broadcasting technologies like terrestrial and sattellite services. 

Several broadcasters, including the Zee group, who had expressed their interest in offering mobile TV leveraging its strength of television channels, will now have to apply for a fresh licence to offer mobile TV.

Reacting to the consultation paper issued by Trai, Jawahar Goel, managing director of Zee's DTH service Dish TV, said: "If telecom companies want to operate mobile TV or IPTV, they should adhere to the rules and regulations governing the broadcasting sector.. or the government should create level playing field between telecom operators and broadcasters and cable companies."

The Trai's consultation paper has also asked stakeholders to respond to the regulatory issues of mobile TV. Currently, only public broadcaster Prasar Bharati, which is allowed terrestrial broadcasting, had conducted trials of mobile TV in Delhi. Trai, in its paper, has asked for suggestions on the use of dedicated terrestrial transmission or satellite as the best option for mobile TV transmission. 

Internationally, mobile TV operators offer only a handful of channels (ranging between 14-31)due to the shortage of spectrum. Trai has sought comments on the minimum numbers of spectrum for the channels that should be blocked for mobile TV services.

The Trai consultation paper also raises questions on the foregin direct investment limits for mobile TV operators and the quantum of licence fee that should be charged from companies seeking mobile TV licences.