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New Delhi, June 13 The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) said that it was hopeful of having broken the impasse between broadcasters and Internet Protocol service providers.

Broadcasters have agreed to offer channels on an a la carte basis and also to offer the same bouquets, at the same rates to the service providers offering (Internet Protocol Television) IPTV service as those being offered to DTH operators according to the regulator’s recommendations, said the Authority in a statement today.

The pay channels would thus, also cost IPTV service providers 50 per cent of the rates applicable for non-CAS cable TV networks.

This follows discussions that the Authority had with broadcasters on the issue, on two occasions in mid-May in an attempt to facilitate the growth of IPTV.

The Authority which gave its recommendations on the issue of Provision of IPTV Services to the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting in January, said its “clear and unambiguous advice was that DTH and IPTV platform should receive similar and uniform treatment as a uniquely addressable system”.

However, it said, that some service providers had found it difficult to get television channels at prices on par to those offered to DTH service providers. The general consensus, after the interactive discussions, said TRAI, was to adopt non-discriminatory price regime.

The Authority had in January also recommended that the uplinking and downlinking be amended to allow broadcasters to provide signals to all distributors of TV channels, including IPTV service providers.

The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting has conveyed its agreement with the recommendations, said the Authority.

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