[cr-india] TRAI Open House at Chennai

[Frederick Noronha (FN)]

	Suresh, thanks for the feedback from Chennai. It is very
	clear from the consultation paper below that TRAI
	has expressed its intention to take up issues that
	go beyond just the private FM stations.

	Also, the comments from joint secretary US Bhatia
	clarify that broadcasting has been
	notified as a "telecommunication service", making it
	mandatory for the Central government to seek the
	recommendations of TRAI.

	As community radio gets kicked around like a football
	that nobody wants to deal with, and the letter and
	spirit of the 1995 Supreme Court judgement is till
	date ignored, we really need to point out how
	this issue of free speech is being given the go-by.

	Other possible conflicts of interest might not help;
	TRAI needs to act as an independent regulator. Else
	the entire official policy in an election period 
	could be seen as suspect and meant to placate the
	influential private FM players alone. --FN


On Fri, 7 May 2004, Suresh Menon wrote:

> The Open House at Chennai today was a non-event as far as CR was 
> concerned. Starter issues raised on CR Licensing was turned down saying 
> that the Open House was only for commercial FM. Repeated attempts did 
> evoke an assurance from The TRAI Chairman Mr. Baijal that a separate 
> Open House would be held for CR at a later date. However, he did 
> mention that he was very much aware of the problems faced by ambitious 
> entrants and these will be addressed after the recommendations on the 
> commercial FM were discussed.
> 
> Suresh Menon




Consultation Paper No.  8 /2004  Telecom Regulatory Authority of India

Consultation Paper On   Licensing Issues Relating to 2nd Phase Of Private FM
Radio Broadcasting

New Delhi  

April 14, 2004 ...

3.4  Roll out Obligation:  

One of the objectives of the Tenth Five Year Plan (2002-2007), is to expand
coverage of television and radio services to the unserved areas,
particularly north eastern states, border region, hilly terrain and enhance
the present 30 per cent population coverage of FM to 60 per cent by the end
of the Plan.  This can be done by stipulating suitable Roll Out Obligations
for the service providers since around 70% of our population lives in rural
areas.  Failure to meet these Obligations may lead to penalties ending in
the cancellation of the license and withdrawal of permission to use
frequency spectrum. This would also help in eliminating non-serious players.

The license can contain strict conditions obliging the service provider to
roll out. The performance of the Roll Out Obligation would need to be backed
by a Bank Guarantee that can be invoked in the event of the service provider
failing to fulfil his obligations.  Another option could be in line with the
`USO Fund' in the Telecom Sector.  Such a concept has been discussed by the
Radio Broadcast Policy Committee for supporting Non Commercial channels. The
committee has recommended 1% of the license fees revenue share for the
purpose. However, the fund could be considered for improving roll out or for
a combination of both. The issue is discussed in subsequent section....

(a) Shift of IGNOU services from FM to MW/SW/AM bands and release of FM
frequencies occupied.... In Phase I, one license in each city was reserved
for educational broadcast by IGNOU. The committee has recommended that the
frequencies that IGNOU could not operationalised should not be allotted to
IGNOU.  The issue for consultation is: Should the non operationalised
licenses of IGNOU be included for licensing in Phase II?

3.19  Non-Commercial Channels and Exclusive Niche Programmes:    

The Radio Broadcast Policy Committee was to examine the possibility of
having non-commercial, non-advertisement driven channels, to be
operated/licensed by the same commercial broadcasters; terms & conditions
thereof; the type of content these channels could include especially those
related to the heritage and culture of India.

The committee notes   "forcing commercial broadcasters to take up additional
non-commercial, non-advertisement driven channels is not a practical and
workable policy. This may defeat the very purpose of boosting the radio
broadcast market through a Phase II licensing process. " "One option could
be the requirement of a 10% of the broadcast time dedicated to niche
programmes related to culture or heritage of India, public health and
education. However, such a compulsion introduces the problem of definition
of content, as well as monitoring the 10% requirement.  It also involves
issues of timing within the 24 hours cycle for such programming. All of this
will also require major Government intervention, monitoring and inspection
for which there is no current structure or manpower within the
Government....

Therefore, the Committee proposes an alternative, which is pragmatic and
effective, is out of the 4% revenue share that the Government would receive
from the FM broadcasters, 1% of the revenue share should be set apart as a
separate fund dedicated for the purpose of developing the non-commercial
channels (related to culture and heritage of India, public health etc.).
This channel will have the character of Public Broadcast Service of the
United States or a similar channel available in the United Kingdom through
the BBC.  The resources which will accumulate in this fund, will be sought
by private broadcasters to develop non-commercial channels and programmes in
accordance with the directions of a Committee of eminent personalities of
the nation. The funds can be disbursed through transparent rules and
regulations framed for this purpose by the esteemed Committee. There can be
a yearly audit of the broadcaster and the audit report would be presented to
the Committee.  One of the objectives of privatisation was to ensure that
there is some diversity in the content being broadcast by private
broadcasters so as to offer better and wider choice to listeners. The
objective was subsumed in the larger objective to ensure provision of high
quality radio services offering education, information and entertainment and
to make available quality programmes with a localized flavour in terms of
content and relevance.  It has been observed that all the FM channels are
increasingly offering similar content (usually only Hindi film music) and
sound alike. Niche channels (like classical music) have not been developed
by the private FM broadcasters. The reason cited by industry players for
such standardization of content is that advertising is the only source of
revenue and advertisement revenue is determined by the audience of the
particular channel. High license fees structure has forced the licensees to
provide content that appeals to all sections across society rather than a
special interest group in society. The proposed revenue sharing principles
for licensing should result in some amount of broadening of the content in
the commercial channels.  However, it is possible to help the market process
in the direction of development of niche channels." The Radio Broadcast
Policy Committee has recommended:

*  In every city, certain frequencies should be reserved for niche channels
to be tendered separately with a low reserve fee and low revenue share
percentage. Detailed terms and conditions may be prescribed to ensure that
such channels are exclusively developed for niche programming and no partial
niche programming is allowed. * The Committee feels that such niche channels
will be initially required in A+, A and B category towns, followed by its
expansion in other cities in future. * The Government should consider
releasing additional frequencies to encourage such niche channels ...

An alternative method to promote niche programming has already been
discussed earlier. Apart from this there is also the possibility of having
small radio stations with low power, which primarily covers a part of a
large city. For such stations a different licensing regime may need to be
evolved with lesser revenue share. The issues for discussion are: Should
certain frequencies be reserved for niche channels to be tendered separately
with a low reserve fee and low revenue share percentage?  If so, the terms
and conditions to be prescribed to ensure that such channels are exclusively
developed for niche programming and there is no partial niche programming? 
\Delta Whether Government should release additional frequencies to encourage
such niche channels?  What should be the licensing regime for community
stations so that these can increase rapidly?  3.20 Effective Date of license
In Phase I license, the effective date was taken as the date of issue of the
wireless operating license by the WPC. The license agreement required the
licensee to complete installation and commission the system within 12 months
from the date of frequency earmarking by WPC. Some of the stakeholders have
mentioned that the procedural delays involved in clearances such as SACFA
often necessitates larger roll out time.  \Delta In light of the above, what
roll out period should be specified in the license?



Annexure II 

D.O. No. 212/94/2003 - B (D)/ FM  GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF
INFORMATION & BROADCASTING

NEW DELHI   U.S. Bhatia JOINT SECRETARY 

February 12, 2004      Dear  Harshji,   

The Government had constituted a Committee under the Chairmanship of Dr. 
Amit Mitra of FICCI to make recommendations for issue of Licenses for the
second phase of private FM Radio Broadcasting in the light of experience
gained in implementation of the first phase.  The Committee submitted its
Report in November 2003.  The Report of the Committee was put on Ministry's
website www.mib.nic.in and a notice was published in leading newspapers,
National as well as Regional, in December 2003, inviting comments from the
general public within a period of one month.  In response to this, we have
received some comments including those from the existing private FM Radio
Broadcasters.  A copy of the Report of the Committee as well as a copy each
of the comments received is enclosed.

2. Since broadcasting has been notified to be a Telecommunication Service
under Section 2(i)(k) of TRAI Act making it mandatory for the Central
Government to seek recommendations of TRAI in respect of (i) need and timing
for introduction of new service provides and (ii) terms and conditions of
license to service providers, I would request you to have the report and
comments received thereon considered by the TRAI.  We would be happy to
receive recommendations on various issues involved therein especially the
issues of revenue sharing, migration and attendant matters.... 

3. As Government are keen to take an early decision on these matters to
provide a fillip to the FM radio sector, it is requested that the
recommendations of the Authority may be expedited.

With regards,   

Yours sincerely, 

    

(U S Bhatia)  

Dr. Harshvardhan Singh  Secretary Telecom Regulatory Authority of India
Safdarjung Enclave New Delhi