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TRAI, DTH operators agree on need for tariff regulation

6 May 2009, 0553 hrs IST, TNN

PUNE: Regulation of tariff for Direct To Home (DTH) service providers was the focus of the open house discussion organised by the Telecom Regulatory

Authority of India (TRAI) on Tuesday.

Attended by cable TV operators, DTH operators and various channel representatives, the open forum dealt with tariff issues, consumers bearing the brunt of market demands and distributors selling content to DTH operators at a high rate.

There are six DTH providers in the country that cater to more than ten million subscribers as compared to over 70 million subscribers of cable television. There is no proper tariff regulation formally provided by the TRAI so far for DTH. But the market trend is such that the broadcasters are providing content to DTH operators at 50 per cent of the rates at which these bouquets and channels are being offered to the non-CAS cable TV platform. Therefore, the need for wholesale tariff regulation for DTH services.

"Rates for cable TV differ from city to city, but there DTH tariffs can be regularised. It would be better if there is one standard tariff for all the DTH operators in the country," said R N Prabhakar, member of TRAI, who chaired the open house.

The DTH operators put forth their concerns too. "Due to lack of any formal tariff, we have to acquire content from distributors at a much higher rate. Therefore, we are requesting a proper regulation on tariffs," said a DTH operator.

The consultation paper under discussion also put forth provisioning of value-added services like movie on demand, video on demand, carrying of radio channels on DTH and pay per view by DTH operators.

Currently, there are more than 200 channels on offer by DTH operators. Also, every DTH operator has its own model of providing channels to consumers. "But if consumers are given a choice to select an assortment, then it will create a problem for them as well as us. Therefore, we are requesting regulation in the area of channels too," said a Delhi-based DTH operator.

From the consumer's point of view, the lack of tariff regulation is also affecting the consumers. "The DTH operators charge consumers indiscriminately. Therefore, there should be a regulation wherein they give receiptes to subscribers, mentioning the amount of entertainment tax it pays," said Sudhakar Velankar, founder-president and trustee of Grahak Hitvardhini.

DTH services gained momentum in India only after 2006. "Cable TV has been in India since the mid-1980s. It has grown considerably over the years as compared to DTH which is still at a nascent stage in the country. But since there is no regulation for tariff as far as DTH operators are concerened, it's better to leave this issue to market forces, provided it encourages competition," said R K Arnold, secretary of TRAI.

The decision on tariff regulation will be arrived upon by TRAI within few weeks. Till then TRAI's stakeholders, DTH operators and the consumers are free to make suggestions.