Trai looks at boosting ease doing of business, set to meet CEOs of telecom, broadcasting companies

Telecom regulator has called a meeting of chief executive officers of telecom and broadcasting firms next month in order to set the agenda for the upcoming year. The plan is to understand the issues plaguing the sectors and accordingly come up with consultation papers to frame new policies or revise the existing ones, a senior official from Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) told DNA Money.

While the meeting with chiefs of telecom companies is expected to happen on December 4, the regulator is likely to hold talks with heads of broadcasting firms on December 7, sources said.

The main agenda of the meetings would be to gauge the situations impacting these sectors, see what could be done further to improve ease doing of business and discuss other existing policies that need a relook.

For telecom, the government is likely to go for an auction of 5G spectrum next year. While it is learnt that Reliance Jio is in favour of an auction, other telecom firms are unwilling because of the financial stress. The Department of Telecommunications is likely to ask Trai to reconsider the spectrum prices suggested in its recommendations.

In broadcasting, there has been a shift in the entire framework of the TV industry after the Supreme Court upheld the Trai’s tariff order and interconnect regulations for pricing and packaging of TV channels.

The new tariff order by Trai mandates broadcasters to declare the maximum retail price within 60 days and distribution platform operators to declare network capacity fee and distribution retail price within 180 days.

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Trai has already announced implementation of Telecommunication (Broadcasting and Cable) Interconnection (Addressable Systems) Regulations 2017 on July 3 this year.

This article was first published in DNA Money: Trai to meet CEOs of telecom, broadcasting firms next month