By A Correspondent

The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has today released a supplementary consultation paper on Issues related to New DTH Licences.

Earlier, in response to the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (MIB) reference to the Authority, dated September 3, 2013, TRAI had issued a consultation paper on Issue/Extension of DTH Licences on October 1, 2013, seeking comments/ views of the stakeholders. The key issues discussed in the consultation paper pertained to the entry fee, bank guarantee and period of licence. Subsequently, during the consultation process, industry stakeholders requested the Authority that it would be in the interest of the sector that a comprehensive review of the existing DTH licence conditions be taken up. Accordingly, this supplementary consultation paper has been released wherein, amongst others, the issue of ‘control’, licence fee, migration fee and interoperability of DTH set-top-boxes have been discussed.

As part of the consultative process, this supplementary consultation paper has been uploaded on the TRAI website (trai.gov.in), seeking comments/view of the stakeholders. Stakeholders have been requested to offer their views/comments latest by November 25, 2013.