Telecom regulatory authority of India ( TRAI ) is looking into the recommendations to regulate tariffs for interactive, active and value added services on Direct to home (DTH ) services . Trai is in discussion with the DTH operators , broadcasters , cable operators and consumers to decide whether these services should be considered as separate broadcast channels which will put them under up-link / down-link guidelines and force them to adhere to advertisement code.
According to TRAI since Pay per view, movie on demand and active services were not part of the license provisions they should be treated as broadcast channels and service providers should regulate them as per broadcast channel guidelines.
In response to TRAI recommendation operators channeled into various lobbies , According to DishTV “Active services ” are data services and should not be considered as broadcast channels however every service should follow advertisement and programming guidelines. However according to Tata Sky “ These services are basically on-demand, informative and interactive in nature and mostly contain graphical information. In India, too, services offered by DTH service providers have evolved over last three years based on global practices and consumer preferences”
Cable and Satellite Broadcasting Association of India (CASBAA) stands against this move of TRAI and says that this is the customer decision when , how and if to view the channel and should be not be treated as a broadcast channel. According to MSM Discovery content should be the domain of broadcaster and DTH operators should not be allowed to jump into it.
What it holds for DTH operators : DTH operators will be the one’s impacted most by this decision as if it comes into force DTH operators will have to follow up-link / down-link guidelines , advertisement and channel codes , will have to pay channel fees to TRAI and will have much regulated content .
What it hold for consumers: Consumers impact will be limited to user experience and more uniform pricing among the DTH operators.
TRAI is holding an Open House discussion 5 May 2009 in Olympius Hall,Pune at 1100 Hrs and interested stake holders and individuals are invited to participate.
