The ‘Guidelines for Uplinking and Downlinking of satellite TV channels in India, 2022’ issued by Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (MIB), containing the terms and conditions for TV broadcasting services, make it mandatory for the broadcasters to use satellite medium for providing their channels to the distribution platform operators (DPOs).

The advancement of technology has made it feasible for the broadcasters to provide their television channels to DPOs terrestrially also i.e. using terrestrial communication technologies like wireline (e.g. cable/fibre, etc.) or wireless (e.g. cellular/microwave/Wi-Fi, etc.)/internet/cloud.

The terrestrially transmitted channels can be carried to multiple DPO networks simultaneously for re-transmission. Considering these developments, it is essential to establish an enabling framework to ensure that service providers can fully leverage technological advancements.

After issuing a consultation paper on the subject, broadcast and telecom regulator TRAI yesterday came out with a series of recommendations for ‘Regulatory framework for Ground-based Broadcasters’.

Some of the salient points of the recommendations are as follows:

# The framework for ground-based broadcasters shall be similar to the framework contained in the ‘Guidelines for uplinking and downlinking of Satellite Television Channels in India, 2022’ for traditional satellite-based broadcasters, to the extent applicable to the ground-based broadcast model, duly excluding the provisions related to satellite communication medium.

# The scope of ground-based broadcasters shall be to provide television channel(s) to DPOs using terrestrial communication medium for onward re-transmission.

# A ground-based broadcaster may use any terrestrial communication medium(s), for delivery of channels to the DPOs. There shall be no restriction on the use of terrestrial communication technologies/systems and the entity may use more than one such system as per its business decision.

# For the permitted channel, a ground-based broadcaster (GBB) can switch to or additionally use satellite medium for broadcasting with due permission of the central or the federal government. Similarly, a satellite-based broadcaster(SBB) can switch to or additionally use terrestrial communication medium for broadcasting with due permission of the central government.

# The service area for a GBB shall be pan-India.

# MIB may examine whether free ad-supported streaming television (FAST) channels are compliant with the extant guidelines/policy framework. If necessary, MIB may issue necessary policy guidelines for such channels in consultation with TRAI.

# The Authority reiterated its recommendations on ‘Ease of Doing Business in Telecom and Broadcasting Sector’, issued in May 2023, would also apply on GBBs.