coolrajiv 1 Report post Posted November 29, 2007 Source - http://www.telegraphindia.com/1071129/asp/...ory_8604997.asp New Delhi, Nov. 28: Telecom operators, cable TV companies and Internet service providers can offer the Internet protocol television (IPTV) service to their subscribers under their existing licences and without paying extra fees. In its recommendations for IPTV, the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) also proposed 74 per cent foreign direct investment (FDI) across all broadcasting categories. The current policy allows 49 per cent FDI in cable services, 74 per cent in telecom and 100 per cent in Internet services. Many telecom companies, including Bharti Airtel, Reliance Communications and Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited, plan to offer IPTV in a big way. However, only MTNL has launched the IPTV service in Delhi and Mumbai. Uncertainties over getting the required licence have been holding back operators from deploying the service. Trai today said since IPTV was new, it could be offered by telecom operators holding unified access service licence, Internet service providers with a net worth more than Rs 100 crore and cable TV operators registered under the Cable Television Networks (Regulation) Act 1995. The content of TV channels will be regulated by the ministry of information and broadcasting and the broadcasting firms will be responsible for complying with the norms. Trai said that while telecom service providers would be allowed to arrange the infrastructure to provide IPTV, they would take the content only from broadcasters that are regulated under the cable TV act and conform to downlinking guidelines. Operators providing IPTV service will not be allowed to produce news content. They can show only those news channels that have permission from the ministry of information and broadcasting. Trai has also suggested an amendment to the cable TV act to permit a broadcaster to give signals to telecom operators. Under the current norms for the downlinking of television channels, broadcasters can provide satellite signals only to cable and DTH operators. IPTV is an interactive digital television service that is delivered over the Internet instead of the traditional cable network. There are some additional features such as video on demand that allows users to watch movies for a fee. They can pause, fast forward and rewind both live and recorded content. Being in a digital form, the picture quality is also much better than analog transmission. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
