NEW DELHI: The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) today issued a consultation on monopoly/market dominance in cable TV services, wanting to know if stakeholders agree that the State should be the relevant market for measuring market power in the cable TV sector or suggest alternatives.

In the first place, TRAI which claims to have issued the paper at the instance of the Information and Broadcasting Ministry, wanted to know if stakeholders agree that there is a need to address the issue of monopoly/market dominance in cable TV distribution and how the ill effects of monopoly/market dominance can be addressed.

Asking a series of fifteen questions, TRAI has said it wants written comments on the consultation paper by 24 June and counter comments, if any, by 1 July.

TRAI has sought to know whether, to curb market dominance and monopolistic trends, restrictions in the relevant cable TV market should be based on area of operation or based on market share.

Those who feel it should be based on area of operation will have to specify how the area of a relevant market ought to be divided amongst MSOs for providing cable TV service.

Those who feel it should be based on market share, what should be the threshold value of market share beyond which an MSO is not allowed to build market share on its own. Furthermore, how this can be achieved in markets where an MSO already possesses market share beyond the threshold value. Furthermore, TRAI wants comments on the suitability of the rules defined in the paper in this connection.

Stakeholders have to give their views about the threshold values increase indicated by the regulator, or suggest defining restrictions.

TRAI wants to know if ?control? of an entity over other MSOs/LCOs be decided according to the conditions mentioned in the paper or suggestion on alternatives.

Stakeholders wanting different restrictions to curb market dominance have been asked to suggest these.

TRAI has also sought to know whether the parameters listed by it in the paper are adequate with respect to mandatory disclosures for effective monitoring and compliance of restrictions on market dominance in Cable TV sector, and the periodicity of such disclosures.

The regulator wants to know of any amendments to be made in the statutory rules/executive orders for implementing the restrictions.

NEW DELHI: A majority of the participants in the fifth open house on media ownership in Indore today alleged that the media in the country was in the hands of just a handful of large corporate houses.

Answering around thirty questions that officials of the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) raised at the open house which Trai officials confirmed was the last before the regulator finalises its recommendations to the government, the participants wanted greater democratisation in the media.

As in the last two meets, a large number of the 300 plus stakeholders were local cable operators who raised problems relating to digitisation.

The Indore Cable Operators Mahasangh president Iqbal Khan said that the revenue sharing pattern between the multi-system operators (MSOs) and LCO was very lopsided since it was the LCO community which dealt with the consumer. He said that the revenue share of Rs 80 given to the LCO under the conditional access system should not be reduced.
Other LCOs raised the issue of billing, saying that no billing was being done at present despite digital access system having been introduced.

They also complained about the poor quality of the set top boxes claiming that most were not of BIS standards and also pointing out that there was no centre for maintenance of these STBs.

However, officials of Trai claimed that a fruitful discussion was held on the subject under discussion. The meet was addressed on behalf of Trai by principal advisor N Parameswaran and advisor Wasi Ahmed.

The earlier open houses were in Ahmedabad, Hyderabad, Delhi and Bhubaneswar.

Trai had set 29 April as the last date for stakeholders to offer their cross-comments on a consultation paper on the subject. The paper had been issued on 15 February but the final date had been extended in view of the ?complexity of the issue?.
The paper among other issues has sought comments on devising ownership rules for vertical integration between broadcasting and distribution entities.

The paper will also devise rules/restrictions in case of mergers and acquisitions in the media sector, and media ownership rules within and across media segments.

Methodology to measure ownership or control of an entity over a media outlet, identification of genres to be considered while framing media ownership rules, and prescribing norms for mandatory disclosures by media entities are some other issues.

Trai has also discussed in its paper issues relating to identification of media segments wherein media ownership rules are to be prescribed, and identification of relevant markets for evaluating various parameters to be used for devising ownership rules and the methodology for measuring these parameters.

At the outset, Trai - which had issued a paper on the same issue some years earlier - said the paper had been issued at the request of the I&B ministry earlier last year following a report of the Administrative Staff College of India, in Hyderabad.

Trai said that it was felt that reasonable restrictions may need to be put in place on ownership in the media sector, to ensure media pluralism and to counter the ills of monopolies. It pointed out that such restrictions do exist in many international markets.

NEW DELHI: Around eighty stakeholders attended the fourth open house on media ownership held today at Bhubaneswar, with a large number of local multi-system operators (MSOs) and cable operators complaining that no time was given for persons from all over the state to come to the state capital to attend the meet.

However, officials of the telecom regulatory authority of India (Trai) claimed that a fruitful discussion was held on the subject under discussion. The meet was addressed on behalf of Trai by principal advisor N Parameswaran and advisor Rajkumar Upadhyay.

Parameswaran told indiantelevision.com that the gathering included around fifty LCOs who gave valuable suggestions.

With the open houses on media ownership getting disrupted by cable operators insisting their issues be take up and a large majority of participants feeling Indian media is run by a handful of large media house, Trai had planned two additional open houses before finalising its report.

The next open house will be held in Indore at the Ravindra Natya Griha. The earlier open houses were in Ahmedabad and Hyderabad dominated by cable operators, and in Delhi.

Asked about the short notice for the last two meets, a Trai official said that advertisements were placed in local newspapers in Odisha and Madhya Pradesh apart from the notice on the Trai website.

In the Delhi meet, Trai chairman Rahul Khullar - while disagreeing with a representative of a large media house who denied that just three or four media houses controlled the entire fourth estate - said "There is a large body of Indian citizens who feel that way. Wake up and smell the coffee."

All the earlier open houses have been held this month and the one on 18 May in Delhi was held amidst heavy police arrangements.

Trai had set 29 April as the last date for stakeholders to offer their cross-comments on a consultation paper on the subject. The paper had been issued on 15 February but the final date had been extended in view of the ?complexity of the issue?.

The paper among other issues has sought comments on devising ownership rules for vertical integration between broadcasting and distribution entities.

The paper will also devise rules/restrictions in case of mergers and acquisitions in the media sector, and media ownership rules within and across media segments.

Methodology to measure ownership or control of an entity over a media outlet, identification of genres to be considered while framing media ownership rules, and prescribing norms for mandatory disclosures by media entities are some other issues.

Trai has also discussed in its paper issues relating to identification of media segments wherein media ownership rules are to be prescribed, and identification of relevant markets for evaluating various parameters to be used for devising ownership rules and the methodology for measuring these parameters.

At the outset, Trai - which had issued a paper on the same issue some years earlier - said the paper had been issued at the request of the I&B ministry earlier last year following a report of the Administrative Staff College of India, in Hyderabad.

Trai said that it was felt that reasonable restrictions may need to be put in place on ownership in the media sector, to ensure media pluralism and to counter the ills of monopolies. It pointed out that such restrictions do exist in many international markets.