TRAI to study broadcasters' à la carte offers and to act on complaints

Sector regulator TRAI has said it will first review in detail the offers made by the broadcasters before putting these up in their websites. It also adds that it will take up any complaints from any quarters. There was much hue and cry over an alleged attempt to sabotage the non-CAS area Tariff Order of 4^th October. TRAI has the powers of taking suo moto action but will wait and study before any action is taken.

MSOs alleged that the broadcasters had laid down conditions that violate the regulation and that they went to the extent of attempting to cast the Indian Broadcasting Foundation (IBF) in the role of the regulator.

BECIL profits rise 3.5 fold during 2006-07

Broadcasting Engineering Consultancy India Ltd. (BECIL), has earned a profit of Rs.7.92 crores in the year 2006-07 as against Rs.2.27 crore in the previous year. This increase by around 3.5 times is matched by a three fold increase in the business turn over during the year which short up to Rs.98.67 crore as against Rs. 31.52 crore in the previous year.

The major activities, which contributed towards this impressive performance included the successful implementation of common transmission infrastructure (CTI) to private broadcasters during FM Phase II, wherein the company created CTI for 245 FM channels in 87 cities using for Prasar Bharati infrastructure spread over the entire country, execution of orders for setting up studios for a large number of FM Phase II broadcasters and commissioning of Lok Sabha TV channel and multi-media studio for Rashtrapati Bhawan. The company also took up the consultancy and system integration or establishment of interim transmission set ups in the city of Delhi, Mumbai, Calcutta, Chennai, Jaipur, Hyderabad and Bangalore for various FM broadcasters and providing transmission power to broadcasting organizations.

In FM radio sector, the company has orders worth Rs.183 crore for bringing up CTI in 87 cities. The company has also submitted a proposal of Rs.97.72 crore to the Ministry of External Affairs for re-enforcement of radio coverage in Afghanistan involving medium wave, short wave hp transmissions along with studio centers.

Entertainment, media policy to take shape by January: Dasmunsi

Information & Broadcasting minister Priyaranjan Dasmunsi said that the future policy for the entertainment industry would be decided by mid January at a plenary to be held in Mumbai. For this, five committees have been set up on issues of piracy, digitization, exchange programs and so forth. ‘I have sat with four of the committees and heard them, and one more remains, to make their presentation in Chennai in early January and then, all of them will meet at a plenary at Mumbai where the crucial decisions will be taken,' he said. Dasmunsi said that fighting piracy, which is an absolute must, must be balanced by getting a legal vehicle to reach entertainment to the masses, and for this digitization is the only solution, towards which the government is committed.

He said the second aspect is to go for more exchange programs with players from across the world, but for that to happen infrastructure needs to be developed, which he regretted India lacked. "We have signed an exchange program with Italy and are doing so with Germany and England, but when these people come here they are faced with bad roads, transport and so forth, so it does not really encourage foreigners." The third challenge for the media is also to have exchange programs for technology experts, instead of just the creative or business people in the entertainment industry, so that at some point in time people can compare Bollywood and Hollywood at the technological level. He said that there is a big demand in the west for Indian entertainment and mentioned Stuttgart and Morocco, from his personal experience, where festivals of Indian films have massive attendance.

Swarup tells NBA to submit Code by its 31 January deadline

I&B secretary Asha Swarup has said that news broadcasters association (NBA) must meet the deadline set by themselves for 31 January 2008 and submit their draft content code to the government. She stressed on the media to act fast, and buttressed her statement by saying, ‘There is no need for you to question the government's intentions, but if industry does not come out with its content code the courts will do it for you.' The government has no intention whatsoever for curbing the freedom of the press, but adding that some regulation has to be in place and it could easily come from the NBA, she said. She reiterated that she had no hesitation with the media bringing in its own code, reminding the audience that the Advertising Services Council of India is an independent body and had brought in their own code ‘which the government adopted', saying the same could be possible with the NBA code. She said that she has talked individually to many top broadcasters and they have said they will draft their own code, but nothing has happened.

Government must set deadline for voluntary CAS to take off: TRAI

The Telecom Authority of India (TRAI) has recommended that the government must set a deadline for the rolling out of voluntary CAS (conditional access system) to 55 more cities, over a period of three years from October 2008. "Voluntary CAS is perceived to be a non-starter unless the date from which addressability will be implemented is mandated, and unless the interconnection and tariff are also mandated for the initial roll out period," TRAI has said.

The sector regulator has recommended in its detailed time plan that the government should announce the deadlines for 19 cities in the first phase, starting and ending 1 October 2008 till September 2009. Another 18 cities should come up between October 2009 and September 2010. The last phase should be from 18 October 2010 till September 2011. The date of CAS rollout should be mandated for 55 cities - state capitals and those with a population of one million and above. While the existing regulatory framework in the specified 55 cities would be in place for one year, in case of those who are extending it to other areas it will stay for two years.

TRAI issues consultation paper on 3^rd phase of private FM radio broadcasting

The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) released a consultation paper on ‘Issues relating to 3^rd phase of private FM radio broadcasting'. Due to the huge growth of FM radio industry and demand for further expansion of FM radio coverage, the government is considering expansion of FM Radio to other cities through private agencies under Phase-III. In view of this the government has sought the recommendations of TRAI under Section 11(1) (a) of TRAI Act, 1997 on the modifications to be incorporated in the policy for FM radio broadcasting Phase-III.

FM radio broadcasting due to its versatility is considered as main medium to provide entertainment, information, and education. FM Radio broadcasting was first launched in the country in 1999 and subsequently 21 private channels became operational. Based on the popularity of FM radio among the masses, the government offered 337 new channels for bidding by private agencies covering additional cities and towns in the Phase -II in July, 2005. As an outcome of this, letters of intent (LOI) for 245 channels were issued and 136 channels have become operational. The 97 vacant slots of this phase were put on re-bid recently. It is expected that FM broadcasting coverage will soon be extended to cover a total of 92 cities.

A consultation paper analyzes various issues related to FM Radio broadcasting such as expansion of FM radio to smaller cities including migrate from city permission concept to district permission concept, number of channels to be made available in a city, FDI cap, networking guidelines, allowing news and current affairs program on FM radio, level playing field between FM broadcasters vis-à-vis satellite radio broadcasters, change in ownership permission, and automatic renewal of permission. Apart from this a number of technical issues relating to co-channel spacing and collocation of FM broadcast transmitters have been raised for deliberation. The international experiences have been compiled to get better understanding of present scenario in other countries.

Dates for bid submission for FM stations deferred again

The dates for submission of financial bids for 97 FM radio stations in 48 cities across the country have been deferred yet again by the Union Ministry of Information and Broadcasting. The bidding was scheduled for January 14 and 24. The new dates will be notified in due course for time. The decision to defer the dates follows the dismissal of a review petition that had been filed by the government on this matter in the Delhi high court on Friday. It was on June 8, 2007 that the ministry had invited bids for 97 vacant FM channels in the 48 cities.