The Hindu Business Line : More clarity on Net TV legal status sought

In a bid to address the regulatory issues related to Internet Protocol Television (IPTV), industry experts have called for revisiting the Convergence Bill to address the overlap areas of broadcast and telecommunication.

IPTV technology is offered by telecom operators to deliver television content through telephone lines. The service could overlap with broadcasting services and therefore it is not clear as to which laws govern it.

"One of the biggest issues facing IPTV today is under what legal umbrella will it come," said Mr Shyamal Ghosh, former secretary of Ministry of Communications. Mr Ghosh is also the Chairman of the newly created IPTV forum in India.

Earlier the telecom regulator had also raised the issue when State-owned MTNL had launched IPTV services in Delhi and Mumbai. TRAI had sought legal opinion on which laws should govern IPTV services, since it was a broadcast service being offered by telecom operators.

Mr Ghosh said the regulatory environment could adopt a soft approach to facilitate adoption of such technology.

The IPTV India Forum (IIF) Standardisation Committee Chairperson, Ms Sujata Dev, said it was unclear if IPTV would come under the Cable TV Act or Telegraph Act and it would be in the interest of the industry to sort it out at the earliest. She also said that issues related to copyright needs to be looked at so that content providers could provide service to IPTV.

More Stories on : Convergence | Radio/TV

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