I&B wants cable industry to be on a par with telecom over infrastructure

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New Delhi: digital mode. An IPTV operator delivering the same content as a cable service provider, is eligible for RoW, however a cable service provider is not, argues a multi-system-operator (MSO). A government official said even in the absence of such an enactment, cable operators have managed to get such permissions from time to time, which is how they have managed to erect the infrastructure that they currently possess. The real issue rests with the variability in rates charged even within a single state and the time frame, rather the lack of it, for granting permission.

Most cable service providers, however, maintain that they are also entitled for RoW as infrastructure providers for the simple reason that cable services are also covered under Indian Telegraph Act, 1885 and department of telecommunications (DoT) has notified ‘Broadcasting Services and Cable Services’ to be telecom services under the Trai Act, 1997.

They also cite court rulings to establish that cable services are already covered under the provisions of Indian Telegraph Act and the discrimination in granting RoW is despite that. Rajasthan high court had held way back in 1993 that “The disc antenna as well as the cable network installed by the petitioners(cable operator in this case), therefore (both) require licence under the Indian Telegraph Act read with Indian Wireless Telegraphy Act, 1933. The transmission of prerecorded cassette through cable network also requires licence under these Act.” This is also the reason that registration of cable operators are also granted by postal authority, points out a cable operator.

The nodal ministry is also in the process of advising the state governments to develop an uniform procedure and uniform rates, which should be adopted by all concerned authorities within the state atleast if not across the states. Currently the grant of RoW is handled by multiple authorities within states and they charge differentially for granting the same permissions.