Need for a Firm Regulatory Body for Television Content

Regulation of content has become most contentious issue these days. The issue comes up in every forum where I & B officials and broadcasters meet. News channels raised a lot of dust during the panel discussion in News Television Summit last month where the new I & B Secretary, Mrs Sushma Singh was also present. The broadcasters just not want any government regulations. Mrs Singh observed that the content code had to be at par with the changing times. She informed that the Centre is having a fresh look at the content code for television programmes since the current code was outdated. Referring to the opposition of the content code from private news broadcasters, she said, “Instead of opposing it, they should discuss the matter with the government.” 

TRAI Recommends BARC For TRP Monitoring

TRAI releaseed Final Recommendations on the “Policy Guidelines and Operational issues for Television Audience Measurement/ Television Rating Points (TRPs)” on 19 August 2008.

The need for an appropriate framework which ensures transparency, independence of rating agencies and increased coverage reflecting the plurality of regions and viewership made the I&B Ministry seek these guidelines from TRAI. 

Is Our Time Now?

The LCOs have been given a new lease of life with the final Recommendations of TRAI for Restructuring the Cable TV Services. Now it is the turn of LCOs to give it back to the government by preparing their networks for the New Generation Network Services, feels Roop Sharma, President of the Cable Operators Federation of India.

TRAI has finally given their recommendations on 'Restructuring of Cable TV Services' on 25 July 2008. Their efforts are highly commendable because the recommendations, apparently has been finalized after studying every aspect of this unorganized industry. These recommendations will undoubtedly pave way for a growth oriented future of the industry where this vast infrastructure of 78 million connections will get converted into a state of the art New Generation Network infrastructure. However I wish to emphasise to all cable operators that-

The Future of Broadband

One of the great divides of our time is between classical media sociologists and mathematics. Sociologists offer us 'futurology' based on current social divisions and statistical analysis. Technology evolution is often seen as given out by the 'hand of providence', in all its mystery. The media has, at any given time, an 'agenda' set by conspiracies of human beings. These theories are wrong. They may be wishful thinking for a simple life, but they are not the truth.

In fact, there is no unique future. There are few conspiracies. Our society and media evolution are mathematically 'chaotic' systems. There are large numbers of variables and factors which influence events. The future is defined by an equation with many variables and much 'non-linearity. Everything happens because of a cause and an effect'. The equation of the future has multiple solutions, and one of them will win because of events which may not yet have happened. Trends and tendencies can be spotted, but the precise future cannot be known - at least not until we have very much more powerful computers to solve the equations.

Beginning of the IP Era

Two great things happened last month. First the approval of IPTV recommendations by the Cabinet and second the recommendations on VOIP by TRAI. Now the telecom companies can start their IPTV operations without any legal hassels. This will bring them in direct competition with the cable operators for providing satellite channels and other video content to the 130 million TV households. They can also now ask the broadcasters to provide them with all their signals.

VOIP recommendations have enabled the ISPs to provide voice based srevices to the consumers. Now they too can get into the business of basic telephony. The best part is that many of the Telcos and ISPs may provide their broadband services through the last mile operators who already have fiber and CAT-5 cables laid. This will give the LCOs another revenue source. 

September 2008

Monday, September 01, 2008 -- TRAI announced further measures to improve transparency in tariff offers and to protect the interest of mobile consumers.