NEW DELHI: The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India has further extended the last date for receiving the views of stakeholders on its Consultation Paper relating to Interconnection Regulation in Non-Addressable Cable TV Sector.

The extended dates would be communicated shortly. The previous extension was up to 31 January.

The paper had been issued on 27 December 2010 and written comments had been sought from stakeholders by 15 January 2011 and counter comments by 20 January. This was then extended to 31 January, and stakeholders were told to file counter comments by 7 February.

Trai had asked cable operators and other stakeholders in the broadcasting sector to specify the changes they want in the interconnection regulations for the non-addressable television sector which have often led to prolonged litigation.
  
In the consultation paper on the issue, Trai had specifically said there is need to make certain amendments to the Telecommunication (Broadcasting and Cable Services) Interconnection Regulation 2004, amended from time to time, which are based on negotiated subscriber base which has not been effective at the ground level resulting in a number of disputes between the service providers.

The Authority recently reviewed the tariff related issues in the entire broadcasting sector and during the discussions found that the stakeholders wanted a review of the Interconnection Regulation in the light of difficulties and consequent litigation that results from time to time.

The consultation paper would look at disputes on subscriber base between broadcaster and cable operators and multi-system operators (MSO) during the course of a contract.

The Consultation paper discusses the extant regulatory provisions and a possible solution to the issue.