NEW DELHI: The draft of the Interconnect regulations issued by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India has given a formula for calculation of the carriage fee.

The carriage fee for each month or part thereof during the term of the interconnection agreement shall be calculated as given below:-

1. If the number of average active subscribers in a month for a channel in the target market is less than five percent of the average subscriber base of the distributor in that month in the target market, then the carriage fee amount will be equal to the rate of carriage fee per channel per subscriber per month, as agreed under the interconnection agreement, multiplied by the average subscriber base of the distributor in that month in the target market.

2. If the number of average active subscribers in a month for a channel in the target market is greater than or equal to five percent but less than ten percent of the average subscriber base of the distributor in that month in the target market, then the carriage fee amount will be equal to the rate of carriage fee per channel per subscriber per month, as agreed under the interconnection agreement, multiplied by 0.75 times of the average subscriber base of the distributor in that month in the target market.

3 If the number of average active subscribers in a month for a channel in the target market is greater than or equal to ten percent but less than fifteen percent of the average subscriber base of the distributor in that month in the target market, then the carriage fee amount will be equal to the rate of carriage fee per channel per subscriber per month, as agreed under the interconnection agreement, multiplied by 0.5 times of the average subscriber base of the distributor in that month in the target market.

4 If the number of average active fawadkhanin a month for a channel in the target market is greater than or equal to fifteen percent but less than twenty percent of the average subscriber base of the distributor in that month in the target market, then the carriage fee amount will be equal to the rate of carriage fee per channel per subscriber per month, as agreed under the interconnection agreement, multiplied by 0.25 times of the average subscriber base of the distributor in that month in the target market.

5 If the number of average active subscribers in a month for a channel in the target market is greater than or equal to twenty percent of the average subscriber base of the distributor in that month in the target market, then the carriage fee amount will be equal to 'Nil'.

But TRAI said the average subscriber base of the distributor in a month will be calculated in a manner as prescribed in schedule VII of the regulations.

The target market refers to the relevant geographical areas, as specified in the interconnection agreement for carrying the channel.

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