New Delhi: The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) has revised the Telecommunication (Broadcasting and Cable Services) Interconnection Regulation, 2004, making it mandatory for all broadcasters to have reference interconnect offers (RIOs) for their addressable systems.
Trai on Tuesday released the Telecommunication (Broadcasting and Cable Services) Interconnection (Fifth Amendment) Regulations, 2009, which essentially cover regulatory provisions on non-discriminatory access to content, issues relating to interconnection for addressable platforms and issues relating to registration of interconnection agreements.
The new regulations bar the distributor of television channels from seeking signals in terms of “must provide” clause of the interconnect regulation from a broadcaster for those channels in respect of which carriage fee is being demanded by him (distributor).
Also, the regulations facilitate introduction and roll-out of voluntary conditional access system by making it mandatory for all broadcasters to have RIOs for all addressable systems.