Exclusive | Digitisation will ensure fair play!

The new Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) order on regulating the television industry and push forward the process of digitization is a step which was required long ago. The advent of cable television in India happened about two decades back and the growth of TV networks along with it in the early 1990’s. The scene hitherto had been dominated by the fragmented cablewallahs although some concentration was evident in the form of affiliations to the broadcasters. But largely the poor consumer has been ignored all through. Not only he had to bear with poor signals but was also at the mercy of the local goons who controlled the cable business and charged monthly fees the way he desired. Thus rates were different from location to location. On the other hand broadcasters suffered due to under reporting of connection by the cable operators with more than 70 per cent of the money collected on the ground not coming back into the system.

 

All this will change for the better. Now television viewers will be able to choose a minimum of hundred free to air (FTA) channels at a maximum retail price of Rs 100, cable operators will have to mandatorily offer a Basic Service Tier (BST) to viewers throughout the country. The Basic Service Tier would consist of 100 free to air channels including 18 mandatory Doordarshan channels plus the Lok Sabha channel.

 

The TRAI tariff order lays down that apart from the mandatory channels in the BST, cable operators and Multi System Operators (MSOs) will have to provide customers a minimum of five channels of different genres. The genres are General Entertainment Channels (GEC) in English, GEC- Hindi, GEC - regional, music, news, movies, sports, kids infotainment and lifestyle. Customers can also choose another option which includes some pay channels and pay a monthly price upto Rs 150. Further the order states that revenues will now be split 55:45 (for free channels) and 65:35 (for pay channels) between MSO and cable operators. This seems fair given that MSOs will bear the burden of digitisation.

 

The new order if implemented well will help all. Multi-system operators (MSO)s will gain from the increased volume of business they get, both in terms of carriage of channels and the enhanced addressable subscriber base. Consumers will have more choice in terms of content, broadcasters will benefit from the reduction in carriage fees and monthly charges which will be on la carte basis.

On the flip side TRAI has legalized carriage fees and given distributors liberty to determine carriage fees that broadcasters must pay which is unfair to the latter. But while criticisms are bound to be there when any new regulation is introduced it should not be forgotten that overall the regulator has tried to provide a fair playground for all the parties including the consumers and the government, by setting boundaries within which business can be transacted in a transparent manner. It will help the process of digitisation in the Rs 33,000-crore Indian television industry.