No more TV channels, says information and broadcasting ministry

Competition in the electronic media space will now be restricted as the government has initiated a move to cap the number of TV channels permitted to beam into Indian homes.

In a notice put up on its website on Tuesday, the information and broadcasting ministry has said, “it has been decided to suspend receiving applications for permissions to uplink TV channels from India and downlink them in the country with immediate effect”.

DNA had on October 10, 2009 (Will the number of TV channels be curbed?) first reported the likelihood of such a move.

Spectrum crunch is believed to be the main reason behind this curb. So far, the dearth of airwaves has had an adverse impact on the telecom sector, forcing the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) to stop entertaining any fresh application. But now, even the broadcasting industry is set to feel the heat of spectrum deficiency.

Currently, the total number of TV channels being beamed into Indian homes is over 500, and at least 100 more are in the queue.

A few months ago, I&B minister Ambika Soni had written to Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) chairman J S Sarma asking whether there was a need to cap the number of channels in the context of scarce spectrum availability. However, Trai has not come out with any recommendation on the issue yet.

“It has been observed that although improved technologies have resulted in better utilisation of the available spectrum and transponder capacities, the spectrum and transponder capacities for satellite TV channels are not unlimited,” the I&B ministry notice has said.

A need is felt to revisit the present policy for uplinking and downlinking with respect to the approach towards grant of permission including the eligibility criteria and the terms and conditions of the permission, the ministry clarified.

The ministry pointed out that a number of issues have arisen for consideration, on which Trai’s recommendations have been sought. “Pending receipt of Trai’s recommendations, it has been decided to suspend receiving applications for permissions to uplink TV channels from India and downlink TV channels in India under uplinking/downlinking guidelines with immediate effect, till further notice,” it has added.   

The guidelines for downlinking of television channels and for uplinking from India were notified in 2005.