That’s twice the number for DTH. Blame bandwidth perception.
That’s twice the number for DTH. Blame bandwidth perception.
NEW DELHI: The government has significantly increased the number of TV channels to be compulsorily carried on IPTV (internet protocol television) platforms.
In a memorandum issued to all IPTV owners, the information and broadcasting (I&B)
ministry has listed eight, including Doordarshan and Parliament channels, on the must-carry list.
The other must-carry channels are Lok Sabha Television, DD Rajya Sabha, DD-1 or national channel, DD News, DD Sports, DD Urdu, Gyan Darshan and DD Bharti.
Cable TV operators, as per the Cable TV Network Regulation, are supposed to air at least
two DD terrestrial channels, two Parliament channels and one regional channel — a total of five.
As for direct-to-home (DTH) players, it is mandatory for them to have at least four channels—two DD and two Parliament channels—on their platforms.
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Centre orders IPTV players to carry 8 DD channels
Sujata Dev, co-founder of IPTV Forum, an industry body, said the government has asked IPTV players to carry more state-owned (DD) channels because of the general perception that there’s no bandwidth restriction here, unlike in DTH or cable TV.
While admitting that relatively there’s less restriction on bandwidth in IPTV, she said every channel takes up around 2MBPS.
“We are going to approach the government on this issue,” said Dev.
This is not the only issue that IPTV players are grappling with. There’s no clarity on pricing of channels in IPTV either, she added.
Also, the recent consultation paper of the telecom regulator, Trai, on restricting cross-media ownership may also pose a hurdle, she argued.
Many players may like to wait and watch the government move on cross-media ownership rules before commercially launching their IPTV ventures, she argued.
On an average, an IPTV platform is expected to have anything between 100 to 200 channels.
Last month, the government made IPTV a lawful broadcasting operation. Till then, IPTV has been in a no-man’s land, and its regulation a grey area.
State-owned telcos, Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd (BSNL) and Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Ltd (MTNL), commercially launched their IPTV services a few months ago. But, they have been facing problems in accessing content from registered broadcasters, in the absence a policy framework. Among the private players, Bharti and Reliance Communications have conducted their IPTV pilots across many cities, but they are yet to commercially launch the service.
IPTV refers to a distribution platform using high-speed internet, to offer TV channels along with many interactive and value-added services. For instance, an IPTV subscriber can pause a live show, record it and watch it later.
TRAI had earlier this year recommended that uplinking and downlinking guidelines should be amended to enable broadcasters to provide signals to all distributors of TV channels including IPTV service providers.
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