The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) issued the Consultation Paper on ‘Regulatory framework for Ground-based Broadcasters’, on October 18. The consultation paper invited written comments November 15, 2024 and counter comments, if any, by November 29, 2024.
Read more: TRAI releases consultation paper for ground-based broadcasters; seeks comments from stakeholders
Upon which the stakeholders sought extension of time for sending their comments. Taking a note of that TRAI has extended the deadline to November 22 and December 6, respectively.
The Authority also said, “No further requests for extension would be considered.”
Read more: TRAI extends deadline for comments on Network Authorisations consultation paper
According to TRAI, the advancement of technology has made it feasible for the broadcasters to provide their television channels to DPOs terrestrially also i.e. using ground-based technologies.
Like traditional TV channels, which are uplinked and downlinked through satellite, the terrestrially transmitted channels may also be carried on multiple DPO networks simultaneously and the DPOs can retransmit them on commercial terms to the subscribers.
“Therefore, there is a need to have a regulatory framework enabling use of ground-based technologies,” it said.
Ground-based broadcasters use land-based transmitters to send TV signals instead of satellites.