With the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) gearing up to impose restrictions on the cable channels, the owners of the cable channels being transmitted through the Andhra Pradesh State FiberNet Limited (APSFL) is a public sector unit 100% owned by the Government of Andhra Pradesh are in a dilemma. APSFL, as an MSO is carrying channels operated by its operators as well as those channels run by many enterprising people who have launched their channels. TRAI wants to limit these channels and the move is sure to stir up a hornets’ nest.
APSFL has around 9 lakhs of connections in Andhra Pradesh, scattered all over the state covering about 10% of the cable connectivity. It claims to have about 15,000 registered LCOs, which is, of course, an exaggeration. It’s learned that there are about 800 LCOs and at least 10% of them may be running their cable channels. APSFL doesn’t run its cable channel(s) except the value-added services.
There are channels run by enterprising journalists who use APSFL’s platform which can take the channel around the state, despite only 10% of households. With the increasing demand and political pressures, the APSFL had to fix the carriage fee for such cable channels. With more demand from news-based cable channels, the carriage fee is a little bit more for them, than the non-news content that may include devotional and entertainment content. It is learned that there are more than 25 such channels on the APSFL platform.
The TRAI’s proposed regulation is going to be a major hurdle for the cable channels on this platform. Firstly, it is the number of channels proposed to be capped for every MSO. In case such a cap is to be implemented, whose channel has to be carried and whose to disallow will be a question mark and political pressures will eventually prevail. The only option is to go for an auction like the DD FreeDish of Prasar Bharati where the channels will bid for the available slots.
Secondly, the cable channels should not be telecast on more than one MSO’s platform. If a cable channel wants to be telecast on APSFL, the doors of other MSOs are shut. The primary objective of TRAI is to restrict the channels to local content and limit the distribution to a particular area. APSFL will be asked to certify that the channel carried on its platform is not carried by any other MSO. So, people who are distributing their channel(s) on multipul platforms are going to face a crucial problem.
APSFL is also treading the path of deviation, wherein, it has allowed the LCOs to insert their channels at their end. As such, the rule of transmitting only encrypted signals is not being followed. This is going to be a serious issue and the APSFL will be forced to remove all such channels. Those who are interested in wide reach shall opt for APSFL and remove their cable channels from other MSOs and those who want to confine to a particular area will align with their local MSO. Now, it is up to TRAI to give its final guidelines!
THOTA BHAVA NARAYANA
