TRAI will finalise National Broadcast Policy by May-end: Anil Kumar Lahoti

Anil Kumar Lahoti, chairman of the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India on Thursday, said that the regulatory body will finalise the National Broadcast Policy by the end of May.

Lahoti said that the regulatory body’s goal is to ensure that all stakeholders in the industry get a level playing field. He added that there should be no barriers to entry and discrimination towards new entrants and different players.

The TRAI’s goal is to ensure that the consumer gets a good quality product at an affordable price, with convenience to avail the same.

Speaking at Asia Video Industry Association’s (AVIA) Future of Video India conference, Lahoti emphasised the importance of the National Broadcast Policy saying that a pre-consultation was done before the main consultation as well.

The last date given by the TRAI for receiving comments is April 30. Considering that this will only be an input to the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (MIB), the TRAI has said that there will be opportunity for counter comments.

Lahoti further stated that the TRAI will finalise the inputs once the comments come in since they have a target for completion by the end of May. Post this, it will be sent to the MIB around the first week of June.

Sanjay Jaju, secretary, Information and Broadcasting too added that the Bill aims to streamline regulatory processes, and ensure that there is a balanced playing field for different service providers.

He also said that through Bill, provisions for emerging technologies will be introduced, while keeping in mind the differences in the technologies, business models and issues that citizens might have related to various stakeholders.

Jaju also added that the MIB sees the India’s media and entertainment industry achieving a market size of $100 billion. The industry is currently valued at around $28-30 billion. He said that this vision is anchored on initiatives aimed at increasing innovation, growth and making the most out of the new opportunities in the sector. StoryBoard18