TRAI’s Next Plan

“If the projected demand of telecom services is to be met then additional two lakh towers have to be erected till the year 2020,” says R S Sharma, Chairman, TRAI.

“If the projected demand of telecom services is to be met then additional two lakh towers have to be erected till the year 2020,” says R S Sharma, Chairman, TRAI. In conversation with Express Computer

What steps is TRAI taking to safeguard the interests of the consumers and nurture the growth of telecommunication, broadcasting and cable services?

TRAI is the regulator for telecom and broadcasting sectors. At present there is a difference in the structure of the regulatory frameworks for these two sectors. For the telecom sector the regulatory framework is reasonably well defined and stable. For this sector our primary focus is to ensure that the standards of quality of service laid down are adhered to strictly for the consumers. In the telecom sector new challenges keep coming up due to its extremely dynamic nature. Issues like OTTs riding on the telecom infrastructure, IOT or M2M services, regulatory framework for Cloud services, which are the new emerging issues have to be looked at in some detail and seriousness given their importance for our economy, governance and for consumers.

Unlike telecom, the regulatory framework for the broadcasting sector has to evolve given the generational changes that are happening in this sector with the digitisation of the cable TV network. Digitisation promises to create a whole new industry in the real sense with the cable TV as we presently know is changing beyond recognition.

The regulatory framework for an analogue regime will barely meet the demands and aspirations of consumers in a digital environment. This, of course, is going to throw up immense regulatory challenges which we have to meet in a way, so that the industry develops quickly and consumers can benefit from the new technologies. Having said that, my vision for the broadcasting sector is to ensure the rapid creation of a well defined, stakeholder-friendly framework by the time digitisation of the cable network is over.

Recently TRAI directed the service providers to bring transparency to the broadband services by providing adequate information to the consumers. In your view what steps must the service providers take to improve the quality of broadband in the country?

Broadband is the basic platform for delivering a host of services and applications to the citizens. Therefore, spread of broadband in the country is critical for its development. This is indeed a cornerstone of the Government’s Digital India programme. For people to benefit from the internet and the opportunities of this digital age, a high quality broadband service is no longer a luxury – it is a necessity.
It is as essential as the basic necessities of life. India is a country of great diversity. The variation in the level of development in different parts of India is immense.

As sector regulator we have to take into consideration the need of all the consumers wherever they are located and whatever are the means at their disposal. It was with this perspective in mind that the recent recommendations on mobile broadband services were issued. Our intention is to protect consumer interests, so that they don’t have to pay huge amounts of money due to inadvertent use of data network. Regarding mobile broadband our present efforts will be to ensure early and orderly rolling out of the mobile data networks – offering fair return to the industry – while at the same time ensuring good value for the consumers. For this the telecom operators must make adequate investments in infrastructure and ensure that the quality of service prescribed by TRAI is adhered to.

According to the service providers the frequent call drops are mainly due to the lack of sufficient numbers of telecom towers in the country. What steps is TRAI taking to ensure that enough telecom towers can be built in the country to meet the needs of the consumers?

There can be no mobile telephony without telecom towers. If the projected demand of telecom services is to be met then additional 2 lakh towers have to be erected till the year 2020. This is a huge task. TRAI is aware of the problems being faced by the telecom companies in locating new sites for erection of towers, allowing towers already established to operate unhindered and preventing closure of towers by various agencies, including RWAs.

We plan to respond to this problem in different ways. This includes discussions with various agencies to make them aware of the importance of the telecom sector being a critical national infrastructure; the fact that telecom towers are inherently safe for human beings, i.e., they do not pose any health hazard; the fact that there is a stringent monitoring mechanism to ensure that the telecom towers are erected and operate within the norms stipulated by the Government of India; that the Indian standards and norms already have a deep precautionary protection built in by being prescribed at levels that are 1/10th of the international norms that are followed in almost 90% of the countries worldwide and that we as well as the international organisations are monitoring the developments actively. We intend to go out and meet the stakeholders in open house discussions.

We intend to educate the student community about these facts and by issuing newspaper advertisements and through other public/ social media platforms.

What kind of progress are you seeing in the process of digitisation of cable TV in the country? Also, what steps is TRAI taking to ensure that the consumers of cable TV have access to better quality of services?

As you know digitisation of the Cable TV network in India, which was mandated by the Government in 2011 following a recommendation from TRAI, is in its final phases of implementation. All the metros and the big cities were digitised in phases I & II. By the end of this year all urban areas in India—about 7700 additional smaller towns and urban agglomerations—will be digitised. By end of 2016, it will be sunset for analogue TV signal in India. Digitisation in addition to offering the consumers much improved quality of cable TV services, will also allow a much wider range of related services to be offered such as hi-speed cable broadband internet services – this is very important also from the Digital India perspective.

In cable TV services, consumers will have the choice to subscribe only to the specific channels that they want to watch; they will have access to on-demand movies; 3D and high definition content; and they will fully control over their expenditure. The regulatory framework in the analogue era barely suits modern digital network. A digital environment will enable the monitoring of the quality of service parameters by TRAI. However, this will need changing of some of the regulations. We are now in the process of examining the existing regulations comprehensively. This will aid us to create a modern enabling environment that will be simple and user friendly once the digitisation exercise is complete.

In establishing the new framework, TRAI will follow its normal work procedure of consultation with all stakeholders i.e., open house discussions, discussions with industry, discussions with the content providers, with consumer groups.

Are you taking steps to create awareness amongst the various stakeholders about the benefits of digitisation?

TRAI has issued advertisements in leading national and regional newspapers for creating awareness in public about benefits of cable digitisation and obtaining set-top-boxes. Consumer Outreach Programmes are being organised in different parts of the country for creating awareness among consumers. TRAI has brought out advertisements/ booklets/ leaflets, etc., on DOs & DONT’s for MSOs and LCOs; FAQs on Broadcasting and Cable TV Services, etc., which cover procedures for connection, disconnection, transfer, shifting, complaint registration and billing for broadcasting services including cable TV services in digitised areas. Such information is also available on TRAI’s website.

What is your view of the Television Rating Agencies (TRP) mechanism that we currently have in the country? Is TRAI planning to reform the TRP mechanism so that maladies such as small sample size and lack of transparency that riddle the present system can be removed?

TRAI encourages self-regulation by industry to the extent possible so that regulations are widely accepted and implemented in letter and spirit. The TRP is a critical component of the cable TV industry as it determines the popularity of the various channels based on the actual demand for their content amongst the consumers.

In keeping with our philosophy of self-regulation to the extent possible TRAI recommended in September 2013 that an industry led body like the Broadcasters Audience Research Council (BARC) be in charge of the rating mechanism. These recommendations also address specifically the issue you raise – TRAI has recommended that the number of panel homes for collecting television viewership data would be a minimum of 20,000; to be set up within 6 months of the guidelines coming into force. It is further recommended that the number of panel homes should be increased by 10,000 every year until Panel Size reaches 50,000. BARC has recently informed TRAI that it has enhanced the panel size to approximately 34000 from 22000 earlier, so these recommendations are being implemented.

What steps is TRAI taking to ensure that the much needed investments can come into the FM radio channel industry?

Following TRAI’s recommendations for auction of 831 FM channels in 264 cities, the Government recently concluded the first phase of the auction, offering 135 FM channels in 64 cities and towns. The second phase of auctions will cover the rest of the cities/ towns proposed. This will give the broadcasters a wide area to operate in and be able to serve a much larger population/ client base. Undoubtedly, the quality and variety of services to the consumers will improve.

Along with the modalities for the auction, TRAI has also recommended decreasing the channel spacing (frequency gap) between two FM channels from 800Mhz to 400Mhz – this is yet to be implemented, it is still under the Government’s consideration. This will further enhance the number of channels available to consumers in India. TRAI has suggested various measures to improve the operating environment for the broadcasters including increasing the period of the operating permission from 10 to 15 years. This will allow adequate period to the industry to plan the roll out of its services and recover their investments. While on this topic, I would like to direct attention to the fact that the industry must now also look ahead as globally radio is shifting from FM to digital broadcasting. Digital radios do offer far more program options to consumers and allow broadcasters to offer a much wider range of services.

In many parts of the country 4G services are now being rolled out, but even today the quality of 3G services is not good enough. What steps are being taken to improve the quality of mobile broadband?

4G is an important part of any modern mobile broadband service, as it is a quantum improvement over the data speeds offered through 3G networks. I am therefore very happy that the 4G services are being rolled out in India, in a competitive fashion by the various telecom service providers. This is happening all over India and is market driven. At TRAI we are ready to assist in all possible ways to enable the smooth rollout. Regarding spread of mobile broadband TRAI has already recommended to the Government to make available the 700Mhz spectrum band to the industry. The characteristics of this band are conducive for mobile broadband and will help in its proliferation. The auction modalities are presently being discussed.

However, I will certainly like to point out that rolling out of the 4G service does not absolve the telecom operator of his responsibility to ensure good quality basic telecom service, i.e., voice and messaging. As you know at TRAI we are very serious about the strict adherence to quality of service laid down for telecom operators. This includes a periodic independent verification of parameters such as call drop and voice quality. We do this through Drive tests that are conducted in various cities in India. Even with the roll out of 4G services there is no intention of easing up monitoring of implementing the quality of service relating to basic telecom services.