Trai sets up broadcast panel

Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) has set up a committee, which has representatives from the state governments, to put in place regulations pertaining to cable TV services.

Trai took this decision after meeting representatives from the Delhi, Maharashtra, West Bengal and Tamil Nadu governments. "This committee will work on various issues relating to cable TV and provide inputs to the authority to finalise regulations in this regard," Trai said in a statement.

In its interim recommendations to the government earlier this week, Trai had said it would need three months to come up with a list of regulations for the broadcasting sector.

Trai had also recommended the postponement of the conditional access system (CAS) till it had prepared a legal framework to govern the sector.

The committee will look into the problems faced by the four state governments in implementing CAS, the acceptance level of CAS among subscribers in these states. and competition in the cable TV services business.

It will also examine issues like channel pricing and the introduction of direct-to-home and broadband services.