http://www.thehindu.com/business/Industry/article533236.ece

Broadcasters mull legal action against TRAI DTH tariff order
PTI


Peeved at sectoral regulator TRAI’s move to cap the wholesale fees
payable by DTH and IPTV operators for pay TV channels at 35 per cent
of the rates paid by cable operators, broadcasters are mulling to
challenge the order in court.

“The broadcasters are aggrieved. We are discussing the matter with our
lawyers for moving court and the first draft should be ready by next
week,” Indian Broadcasting Foundation President Jawahar Goel told PTI.

Last week, in its tariff order to be effective from September 1, the
Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) made it mandatory for
broadcasters to make channels available to DTH cable operators in
conditional access system (CAS) areas and IPTV providers at 35 per
cent of the corresponding rates for normal cable operators.

Currently, pay TV channels are made available to DTH companies at 50
per cent of the normal price charged to a cable operator.

DTH operators have, however, welcomed the TRAI directive, calling the
order “a move in the right direction”.

“The move to bring down the wholesale price of channels for
addressable systems is a small, but significant step in the right
direction to enable India digitise faster,” Airtel Digital
spokesperson said.

However, they did add that the 35 per cent rate was not enough.

“In a scenario where cable under declaration is rampant, 35 per cent
is not enough. It should be as low as 20 per cent to help DTH
operators compete and become profitable,” Tata Sky CEO Vikram Kaushik
said.


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