Need similar licensing regime for content delivery: Trai chairman

Mumbai: There should be a level playing field when it comes to licensing across different content delivery technologies, including over-the-top (OTT) platform applications, a senior government official said.

He added that it would be better for the eco-system in telecom and broadcast if the existing players were given some relief when it comes to regulation, rather than introducing new regulations for new players and technologies in these sectors.

“As far as Trai is concerned, under the Trai Act, we have limited mandate in that we can regulate only those service providers to whom the government has issued license,” the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) chairman PD Vaghela said.

He added that while currently OTTs do not require a license to operate, Trai is undertaking research on the matter.

“We’ll see (once the research is over), whether we want to issue a consultation paper and make recommendations to the government on the same,” he said.

Vaghela was speaking at an industry event in Mumbai and touched upon various issues mainly pertaining to the pricing challenges in the broadcast distribution sector.

He also stressed that with new technologies coming up, it would be necessary to implement a simplified regime when it comes to licensing, license fee, and cross sector holdings.

“I would rather that instead of new players being brought under the license regime and introducing new regulations (for them), we relieve the regulatory burden on existing players,” Vaghela added.