Business Daily from THE HINDU group of publications
Wednesday, Jan 09, 2008
ePaper | Mobile/PDA Version
Business Daily from THE HINDU group of publications Wednesday, Jan 09, 2008 ePaper | Mobile/PDA Version |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Industry & Economy
-
Radio/TV TRAI seeks industry views on phase III of FM radio Our Bureau New Delhi, Jan. 8 The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has sought the industry’s views before formulating recommendations on phase III of FM radio. Important issuesOn the agenda is the FDI limit for the industry which stands at 20 per cent currently, and allowing private FM broadcasters to cover news, amongst other issues. The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting had asked TRAI for its recommendations in mid-November 2007, before it expands the coverage of FM radio further. The Government is hoping phase III will take the service to 92 cities in total. Some of the other issues that the industry has been concerned about are restrictions on the number of channels allowed to each broadcaster per city, networking guidelines, level playing field between FM broadcasters vis-À-vis satellite radio broadcasters and change in ownership permission and automatic renewal of permission. ChannelsWhen the Ministry opened up the sector in 1999, 21 private channels became operational soon after from the 108 channels offered. In phase II, the Government offered 337 new channels up for bidding, of which 245 channels had been issued and 136 channels have become operational. A re-bid was opened for the 93 vacant slots and four new channels in Dehradun recently. Broadcast coverageWhile Medium Wave broadcast covers almost 99 per cent of the population and 90 per cent of geographical area, FM broadcast covers about 40 per cent of the population and around 25 per cent of the geographical area. TRAI has called for stakeholders’ views in the next 10 days. More Stories on : Radio/TV | Regulatory Bodies & Rulings
Article E-Mail :: Comment :: Syndication :: Printer Friendly Page
|
Stories in this Section |
|
The Hindu Group: Home | About Us | Copyright | Archives | Contacts | Subscription Group Sites: The Hindu | The Hindu ePaper | Business Line | Business Line ePaper | Sportstar | Frontline | The Hindu eBooks | The Hindu Images | Home |
Copyright © 2008, The
Hindu Business Line. Republication or redissemination of the contents of
this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of
The Hindu Business Line
|