India to Release Paper for Digital Broadcast Switch

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Aug. 2 – The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) is slated to release its final consultation paper on the country’s plan to change from analog to digital broadcast signals by December 2013 next week.

“All the industry players have welcomed the regulation by TRAI on digitalization and we are expecting to release the final consultation paper on the same by next week,” TRAI Chairman J. S. Sarma said during a Confederation of Indian Industry conference last Friday. 

TRAI is attempting to reform the industry. Last month, the agency recommended a higher limit for broadcasting foreign direct investment to infuse the sector with much needed capital.

In addition, it advised raising the FDI limit for distribution services Direct to Home, IPTV and multiple-system operators to 74 percent. The agency is also recommending that the 26 percent FDI limit remain for content service providers for news channels and increasing allowable FDI for radio broadcasting from 20 percent to 26 percent.