NEW DELHI: Giving its final recommendations on the mobile television service, the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) on Wednesday proposed a 74 per cent foreign direct investment (FDI) in the service. It also said the grant of licences should be through a closed tender system on the basis of one-time entry fees, while the allocation of spectrum to licensees should be automatic for successful bidders.
The recommendations sent to the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting also said the choice of broadcasting technology should be left to the service provider with the condition that the technology to be deployed for providing mobile TV should follow a standard approved by a recognised standardisation body.
“In case the handset is provided by the licensee, it should be ensured that if the subscribers desire to migrate to any other licensee using the same technology and standards, they should be able to do so without changing the handsets,” it said.
On the allocation of spectrum, it said apart from Doordarshan, private mobile TV operators may be assigned at least one slot of 8 MHz each for mobile TV operation in UHF Band V from 585 MHz to 806 MHz. Such spectrum would enable each mobile TV operator to offer about 15 video channels through the terrestrial broadcast route.
“For better utilisation of spectrum, the sharing of terrestrial transmission infrastructure of Doordarshan should be permitted on mutual agreement basis in a non-discriminatory manner. Similarly, the mobile TV operators will be obliged to offer their infrastructure for sharing,” it recommended.
On licensing issues, it said, there should be a new class of service providers for provision of mobile television services using broadcasting technologies. A State should be the license area for a mobile TV terrestrial service license. Some of the smaller States can be combined to form an appropriate license area in order to enable financially and operationally viable model.