TRAI to discuss provisions for broadcasting services under Telecom Act on Dec 18

The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) will hold an open house discussion (OHD) on December 18 regarding the consultation paper on the 'Framework for Service Authorisations for provision of Broadcasting Services under the Telecommunications Act, 2023'.

TRAI will hold another OHD on December 20 on the consultation paper on 'Regulatory Framework for Ground-Based Broadcasters'.

TRAI held one OHD on the 'Terms and Conditions of Network Authorisations to be Granted Under the Telecommunications Act, 2023, on December 17.

During the open house discussion on December 17, major industry stakeholders opposed the mandatory registration or licensing of content delivery networks (CDNs).

Telecom Regulatory Authority of India's consultation seeks inputs on the terms and conditions for network authorisation for a range of services including CDNs.

Industry stakeholders, including Reliance Jio, Tata Communication, Motion Picture Association, and the Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI), believe mandatory regulation of CDNs or such measures would restrict innovation, investment and growth plans in this critical sector.

Present during the discussion were Anil Kumar Lahoti, Chairman of TRAI, and Atul Kumar Chaudhary, Secretary, TRAI, among the telecom industry stakeholders and industry associations.

It is to be noted that TRAI had come out with recommendations seeking CDN regulation back in 2022, which suggested that CDN providers must ensure that interconnectivity between them and telcos does not affect the overall quality of service (QoS) of networks.

The OHD on December 18 regarding the consultation paper on the broadcasting services under the Telecom Act holds significance as stakeholders including the Indian Broadcasting and Digital Foundation (IBDF), News Broadcasters and Digital Association (NBDA) and FICCI have strongly opposed the TRAI's recommendation which proposes bringing broadcasting services under the authorisation regime of the Act.

The IBDF strongly recommended that TRAI limit its recommendations to carriage-related aspects of broadcasting and explicitly exclude all content-related matters from any proposed authorization framework. It also called for resolving constitutional questions about the validity of content regulation before creating new regulatory frameworks.

On December 20, multiple stakeholders from the broadcasting industry will discuss on the issues pertaining to the Consultation Paper On ‘Regulatory Framework For Ground-Based Broadcasters’. The Guidelines issued by MIB from time to time for Uplinking and Down linking of Satellite Television channels in India, containing the terms and conditions for TV broadcasting services, make it mandatory for the broadcasters to use satellite medium i.e. uplinking and down linking of television channels through satellite, for providing their channels to the Distribution Platform Operators (DPOs).