Use DTH for edu purposes via Prasar Bharati: TRAI to govts

Telecom and broadcast regulator TRAI today said non-commercial use of DTH services by the central and state governments for educational purposes should be done through the Prasar Bharati route.
The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) also reiterated its earlier recommendation on media ownership that an arm's length relationship should be maintained between Prasar Bharati and the government to ensure functional independence and autonomy of the public broadcaster.
"The non-commercial use of DTH, by the central and state governments, for educational purposes should be done through the Prasar Bharati route, through suitable agreements between Prasar Bharati and the concerned central/state governments," TRAI said in reply to letter of I&B Ministry .

The Information and Broadcasting Ministry had asked for views of TRAI in October 2014 on the use of DTH (direct-to -home) platform by central and state governments for educational and non-commercial purpose.
TRAI said that as the transponder capacity is a scarce resource as on date, the allocation of transponder capacity to central/state governments for running DTH educational channels on a non-commercial basis should be done in a very careful and judicious manner.
"It should not lead to a situation where transponder capacity is kept idling on one hand when, on the other hand, Service Providers are kept waiting for the same, thereby adversely impacting the expansion and improvement of quality of their services," TRAI said.