The Hindu : National : Let telecom firms provide IPTV service: TRAI

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Saturday, Jan 05, 2008
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Let telecom firms provide IPTV service: TRAI

Special Correspondent

No change in FDI cap for launching IPTV services
BIS can expedite standardisation of set-top boxes

NEW DELHI: The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has recommended that telecom companies, Internet service providers (ISPs) and cable operators can provide Internet Protocol Television (IPTV) service without getting a new licence or getting registered afresh.

IPTV is a new method of delivering and viewing TV programmes using an IP network and high-speed broadband technology.

In its recommendations issued on Friday, the TRAI said: “Telecom service providers having licence to provide triple play services and ISPs with net worth more than Rs.100 crore and having permission from the licensor to provide IPTV can provide IPTV service under their licences without requiring any further registration. The Department of Telecommunications can permit any other telecom licensee to provide IPTV services as licensor. Similarly, cable TV operators registered under the Cable Television Network (Regulation) Act 1995 can provide IPTV services without requiring any further licence.

“In case any telecom service provider registers itself as cable operator and provides IPTV using its telecom resources, it shall be considered service under telecom licence. Such a service provider shall have to pay the licence fee on IPTV revenue also as applicable to its telecom licence.”

The TRAI has also not changed the Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) cap for launching IPTV services by both the telecom licensee and cable TV operators.

It has recommended that the Bureau of Indian Standards can expedite standardisation of IPTV set-top box specifications to help cable operators in designing their IPTV networks.

On content regulation, the TRAI has said telecom licensees while providing TV channels through IPTV can transmit only such channels in exactly the same form (unaltered) for which broadcasters have received uplinking or downlinking permission from the Information and Broadcasting Ministry.

“Amend guidelines”

On the downlinking policy, it has suggested that the government amend guidelines to enable the broadcasters to provide signals to all distributors of TV channels such as cable operators, multisystem operators, DTH operators, HITS operators and IPTV service providers.

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