National Telecom Reforms

and
Policies
National Telecom Policy 1994
 The new economic policy adopted by the Government
aims at improving India's competitiveness in the
global market and rapid growth of exports.
 Another element of the new economic policy is
attracting foreign direct investment and stimulating
domestic investment.
 Telecommunication services of world class quality are
necessary for the success of this policy.
 Itis, therefore, necessary to give the highest priority to
the development of telecom services in the country.

Nidhi Gautam Prabhakar, Assistant

Professor UIAMS, Panjab University
Chandigarh 2
Objectives
 focus of the Telecom Policy shall be telecommunication for all and
telecommunication within the reach of all.
 to achieve universal service covering all villages as early as possible.
 quality of telecom services should be of world standard. Removal of
consumer complaints, dispute resolution and public interface will
receive special attention.
 to provide widest permissible range of services to meet the customer's
demand at reasonable prices.
 India emerges as a major manufacturing base and major exporter of
telecom equipment.
 The defence and security interests of the country will be protected.

Nidhi Gautam Prabhakar, Assistant

Professor UIAMS, Panjab University
Chandigarh 3
 Present Status (1994)
 The present telephone density in India is about 0.8 per hundred
persons as against the world average of 10 per hundred persons.
 It is also lower than that of many developing countries of Asia like
China (1.7), Pakistan (2), Malaysia (13) etc.
 There are about 8 million lines with a waiting list of about 2.5
million.
 Nearly 1.4 lakh villages, out of a total of 5,76,490 villages in the
country, are covered by telephone services.
 There are more than 1 lakh public call offices in the urban areas.

Nidhi Gautam Prabhakar, Assistant

Professor UIAMS, Panjab University
Chandigarh 4
 Revised Targets
 Telephone should be available on demand by 1997.
 All villages should be covered by 1997.
 Inthe urban areas a PCO should be provided for every
500 persons by 1997
 All value-added services available internationally should
be introduced in India to raise the telecom services in
India to international standard well within the VIII Plan
period, preferably by 1996.

Nidhi Gautam Prabhakar, Assistant

Professor UIAMS, Panjab University
Chandigarh 5
 Value Added Services
 In order to achieve standards comparable to the international
facilities, the sub-sector of value-added services was opened up to
private investment in July 1992 for the following services :
◦ Electronic Mail
◦ Voice Mail
◦ Data Services
◦ Audio Text Services
◦ Video Text Services
◦ Video Conferencing
◦ Radio Paging
◦ Cellular Mobile Telephone
Nidhi Gautam Prabhakar, Assistant
Professor UIAMS, Panjab University
Chandigarh 6
Value Added Services (Contd..)
 This policy will also be continued and the following
criteria will be applied for selection :
◦ Track record of the company;
◦ Compatibility of the technology
◦ Usefulness of the technology being offered for future
development;
◦ Protection of national security interests;
◦ Ability to give the best quality of service to the consumer at
the most competitive cost; and
◦ Attractiveness of the commercial terms to the Department of
Telecommunications.

Nidhi Gautam Prabhakar, Assistant

Professor UIAMS, Panjab University
Chandigarh 7
 Basic Services
 With a view to supplement the effort of the Department of
Telecommunications in providing telecommunication services to
the people, companies registered in India will be allowed to
participate in the expansion of the telecommunication network in
the area of basic telephone services also.
 These companies will be required to maintain a balance in their
coverage between urban and rural areas.
 Their conditions of operation will include agreed tariff and revenue
sharing arrangements.
 Other terms applicable to such companies will be similar to those
indicated above for value-added services.

Nidhi Gautam Prabhakar, Assistant

Professor UIAMS, Panjab University
Chandigarh 8
 Pilot Projects
 Pilot projects will be encouraged directly by the Government in
order to access new technologies, new systems in both basic as well
as value-added services.

Nidhi Gautam Prabhakar, Assistant

Professor UIAMS, Panjab University
Chandigarh 9
 Technology and Strategic Aspects
 Telecommunication is a vital infrastructure. It is also technology
intensive.
 It is, therefore, necessary that the administration of the policy in the
telecom sector is such that the inflow of technology is made easy
and India does not lag behind in getting the full advantage of the
emerging new technologies.
 An equally important aspect is the strategic aspect of telecom,
which affects the national and public interests.
 It is, therefore, necessary to encourage indigenous technology, set
up a suitable funding mechanism for indigenous R&D so that the
Indian Technology can meet the national demand and also compete
globally.

Nidhi Gautam Prabhakar, Assistant

Professor UIAMS, Panjab University
Chandigarh 10
 Implementation
In order to implement the above policy, suitable
arrangements will have to be made
(a) protect and promote the interests of the consumers
and
(b) ensure fair competition.

Nidhi Gautam Prabhakar, Assistant

Professor UIAMS, Panjab University
Chandigarh 11
New Telecom Policy 1999
 Preamble

◦ Importance of Telecommunications
◦ NTP 1994 - objectives and achievements
◦ Need for a new telecom policy
 Objectives and targets of the New Telecom Policy
1999

Nidhi Gautam Prabhakar, Assistant

Professor UIAMS, Panjab University
Chandigarh 12
 Importance of Telecommunications
 The Government of India (Government) recognizes that provision
of world class telecommunications infrastructure and information is
the key to rapid economic and social development of the country.
 It is critical not only for the development of the Information
Technology industry, but also has widespread ramifications on the
entire economy of the country.
 It is also anticipated that going forward, a major part of the GDP of
the country would be contributed by this sector.
 Accordingly, it is of vital importance to the country that there be a
comprehensive and forward looking telecommunications policy
which creates an enabling framework for development of this
industry.

Nidhi Gautam Prabhakar, Assistant

Professor UIAMS, Panjab University
Chandigarh 13
 NTP 1994 - objectives and achievements
 availability of telephone on demand, provision of world class
services at reasonable prices, ensuring India's emergence as major
manufacturing / export base of telecom equipment and universal
availability of basic telecom services to all villages.
 It also announced a series of specific targets to be achieved by
1997.
 As against the NTP 1994 target of provision of 1 PCO per 500
urban population and coverage of all 6 lac villages, DoT has
achieved an urban PCO penetration of 1 PCO per 522 and has been
able to provide telephone coverage to only 3.1 lac villages.
 As regards provision of total telephone lines in the country, DoT
has provided 8.73 million telephone lines against the eighth plan
target of 7.5 million lines.
Nidhi Gautam Prabhakar, Assistant
Professor UIAMS, Panjab University
Chandigarh 14
 NTP 1994 - objectives and achievements
(Contd..)
 NTP 1994 also recognised that the required resources for achieving these targets would not be
available only out of Government sources and concluded that private investment and
involvement of the private sector was required to bridge the resource gap.
 The Government invited private sector participation in a phased manner from the early nineties,
initially for value added services such as Paging Services and Cellular Mobile Telephone
Services (CMTS) and thereafter for Fixed Telephone Services (FTS).
 After a competitive bidding process, licenses were awarded to 8 CMTS operators in the four
metros, 14 CMTS operators in 18 state circles, 6 BTS operators in 6 state circles and to paging
operators in 27 cities and 18 state circles.
 VSAT services were liberalised for providing data services to closed user groups. Licences were
issued to 14 operators in the private sector out of which only nine licencees are operational.
 The Government has recently announced the policy for Internet Service Provision (ISP) by
private operators and has commenced licensing of the same.
 The Government has also announced opening up of Global Mobile Personal Communications by
Satellite (GMPCS) and has issued one provisional license.
 Issue of licenses to other prospective GMPCS operators is under consideration.

Nidhi Gautam Prabhakar, Assistant

Professor UIAMS, Panjab University
Chandigarh 15
 Need for a new telecom policy
 In addition to some of the objectives of NTP 1994 not being fulfilled, there have also
been far reaching developments in the recent past in the telecom, IT, consumer
electronics and media industries world-wide.
 Convergence of both markets and technologies is a reality that is forcing realignment
of the industry.
 At one level, telephone and broadcasting industries are entering each other's markets,
while at another level, technology is blurring the difference between different conduit
systems such as wireline and wireless.
 As in the case of most countries, separate licenses have been issued in our country
for basic, cellular, ISP, satellite and cable TV operators each with separate industry
structure, terms of entry and varying requirement to create infrastructure.
 However, this convergence now allows operators to use their facilities to deliver
some services reserved for other operators, necessitating a relook into the existing
policy framework.
 The new telecom policy framework is also required to facilitate India's vision of
becoming an IT superpower and develop a world class telecom infrastructure in the
country.
Nidhi Gautam Prabhakar, Assistant
Professor UIAMS, Panjab University
Chandigarh 16
 Objectives and targets of the New
Telecom Policy 1999
 Access to telecommunications is of utmost importance for achievement of the country's social
and economic goals.
 Strive to provide a balance between the provision of universal service to all uncovered areas,
including the rural areas, and the provision of high-level services capable of meeting the needs
of the country's economy;
 Encourage development of telecommunication facilities in remote, hilly and tribal areas of the
country;
 Create a modern and efficient telecommunications infrastructure taking into account the
convergence of IT, media, telecom and consumer electronics and thereby propel India into
becoming an IT superpower;
 Convert PCO's, wherever justified, into Public Teleinfo centres having multimedia capability
like ISDN services, remote database access, government and community information systems
etc.
 Transform in a time bound manner, the telecommunications sector to a greater competitive
environment in both urban and rural areas providing equal opportunities and level playing field
for all players;
 Strengthen research and development efforts in the country and provide an impetus to build
world-class manufacturing capabilities.
 Achieve efficiency and transparency in spectrum management.
 Protect defence and security interests of the country.
 Enable Indian Telecom Companies to become truly global players.
Nidhi Gautam Prabhakar, Assistant
Professor UIAMS, Panjab University
Chandigarh 17
Specific targets that the NTP 1999 seeks
to achieve would be :
 Make available telephone on demand by the year 2002 and sustain it thereafter
so as to achieve a teledensity of 7 by the year 2005 and 15 by the year 2010
 Encourage development of telecom in rural areas making it more affordable by
suitable tariff structure and making rural communication mandatory for all
fixed service providers.
 Increase rural teledensity from the current level of 0.4 to 4 by the year 2010
and provide reliable transmission media in all rural areas.
 Achieve telecom coverage of all villages in the country and provide reliable
media to all exchanges by the year 2002.
 Provide Internet access to all district head quarters by the year 2000
 Provide high speed data and multimedia capability using technologies
including ISDN to all towns with a population greater than 2 lakh by the year
2002.

Nidhi Gautam Prabhakar, Assistant

Professor UIAMS, Panjab University
Chandigarh 18
New Policy Framework
 Cellular Mobile Service Providers, Fixed Service Providers and Cable Service
Providers, collectively referred to as ‘Access Providers’
 Radio Paging Service Providers
 Public Mobile Radio Trunking Service Providers
 National Long Distance Operators
 International long Distance Operators
 Other Service Providers
 Global Mobile Personal Communication by Satellite (GMPCS) Service Providers
 V-SAT based Service Providers.

Nidhi Gautam Prabhakar, Assistant

Professor UIAMS, Panjab University
Chandigarh 19
New Policy Framework
 Access Providers
◦ Cellular Mobile Service Providers

◦ Fixed Service Providers

◦ Cable Service Providers

 Internet Telephony
 Radio Paging Service Providers
 Public Mobile Radio Trunking Service Providers
 National Long Distance Operator
 International Long Distance Services
 Other Service Providers
 Global Mobile Personal Communication Services
 SATCOM Policy
◦ VSAT Service Providers
Nidhi Gautam Prabhakar, Assistant
Professor UIAMS, Panjab University
Chandigarh 20
Electronic Commerce
 On line Electronic Commerce will be encouraged so that
information can be passed seamlessly.
 The requirement to develop adequate bandwidth of the order
of 10 Gb on national routes and even terabytes on certain
congested important national routes will be immediately
addressed to so that growth of IT as well as electronic
commerce will not be hampered.

Nidhi Gautam Prabhakar, Assistant

Professor UIAMS, Panjab University
Chandigarh 21
Resolution of problems of existing
operators
 The New Policy Framework which seeks to significantly
redefine the competitive nature of industry, would be
applicable to new licensees.
 There are, however, multiple licenses that have been issued
by the Government for cellular mobile services, basic
services, radio paging services, internet services etc.
 It is the Government's intention to satisfactorily resolve the
problems being faced by existing operators in a manner
which is consistent with their contractual obligations and is
legally tenable,

Nidhi Gautam Prabhakar, Assistant

Professor UIAMS, Panjab University
Chandigarh 22
Restructuring of DoT
 Currently, the licensing, policy making and the service
provision functions are under a single authority. The
Government has decided to separate the policy and licensing
functions of DoT from the service provision functions as a
precursor to corporatization. The corporatization of DoT shall
be done keeping in mind the interests of all stakeholders by the
year 2001.
 All the future relationship (competition, resource raising etc.)
of MTNL / VSNL with the corporatized DoT would be based
on best commercial principles.
 The synergy of MTNL, VSNL and the corporatized DoT
would be utilized to open up new vistas for operations in other
countries.

Nidhi Gautam Prabhakar, Assistant

Professor UIAMS, Panjab University
Chandigarh 23
Spectrum Management
 The National Frequency Allocation Plan (NFAP) was last established in
1981, and has been modified from time to time since.
 With the proliferation of new technologies it is essential to revise the NFAP
in its entirety so that it could become the basis for development,
manufacturing and spectrum utilization activities in the country amongst all
users.
 The NFAP is presently under review and the revised NFAP-2000 would be
made public by the end of 1999, detailing information regarding allocation of
frequency bands for various services, without including security information.
 NFAP shall be reviewed no later than every two years and shall be in line
with radio regulations of International Telecommunication Union.

Nidhi Gautam Prabhakar, Assistant

Professor UIAMS, Panjab University
Chandigarh 24
Relocation of existing Spectrum and
Compensation
 Considering the growing need of spectrum for
communication services, there is a need to make adequate
spectrum available.
 Appropriate frequency bands have historically been assigned
to defence & others and efforts would be made towards
relocating them so as to have optimal utilization of spectrum.
Compensation for relocation may be provided out of
spectrum fee and revenue share levied by Government.
 There is a need to review the spectrum allocations in a
planned manner so that required frequency bands available to
the service providers.

Nidhi Gautam Prabhakar, Assistant

Professor UIAMS, Panjab University
Chandigarh 25
 Relocation of existing Spectrum and
Compensation (Contd..)
 There is a need to have a transparent process of allocation of
frequency spectrum which is effective and efficient. This would be
examined further in the light of ITU guidelines. For the present, the
following course of action shall be adopted.
◦ Spectrum usage fee shall be charged.
◦ Setting up an empowered Inter-Ministerial Group to be called as Wireless
Planning Coordination Committee (WPCC) as part of the Ministry of
Communications for periodical review of spectrum availability and broad
allocation policy.
◦ Massive computerization in the WPC Wing will be started during the next
three months time so as to achieve the objective of making all operations
completely computerized by the end of year 2000.

Nidhi Gautam Prabhakar, Assistant

Professor UIAMS, Panjab University
Chandigarh 26
Universal service obligation
 The Government seeks to achieve the following
universal service objectives:
◦ Provide voice and low speed data service to the balance 2.9
lakh uncovered villages in the country by the year 2002
◦ Achieve Internet access to all district head quarters by the
year 2000
◦ Achieve telephone on demand in urban and rural areas by
2002

Nidhi Gautam Prabhakar, Assistant

Professor UIAMS, Panjab University
Chandigarh 27
 Role of Regulator
 The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) was formed in
January 1997 with a view to provide an effective regulatory
framework and adequate safeguards to ensure fair competition and
protection of consumer interests.

 The Government is committed to a strong and independent regulator

with comprehensive powers and clear authority to effectively perform
its functions.

Nidhi Gautam Prabhakar, Assistant

Professor UIAMS, Panjab University
Chandigarh 28
 TRAI Objectives
 Section 13 of The TRAI Act gives adequate powers to TRAI to issue directions to
service providers.
 Section 14 of the Act, the TRAI has full adjudicatory powers to resolve disputes
between service providers. To ensure a level playing fields, it will be clarified that
the TRAI has the powers to issue direction under Section 13 to Government (in its
role as service provider) and further to adjudicate under Section 14 of the Act, all
disputes arising between Government (in its role as service provider) and any other
service provider.
 TRAI will be assigned the arbitration function for resolution of disputes between
Government (in its role as licensor) and any licensee.
 The Government will invariably seek TRAI's recommendations on the number and
timing of new licenses before taking decision on issue of new licenses in future.
 The functions of licensor and policy maker would continue to be discharged by
Government in its sovereign capacity. In respect of functions where TRAI has been
assigned a recommendatory role, it would not be statutorily mandatory for
Government to seek TRAI's recommendations.

Nidhi Gautam Prabhakar, Assistant

Professor UIAMS, Panjab University
Chandigarh 29
Other Issues
Standardization
Telecom equipment manufacture
Human resource development and training
Telecom research and development
Disaster management
Remote area telephony
Export of Telecom equipment and services
Right of way
Nidhi Gautam Prabhakar, Assistant
Professor UIAMS, Panjab University
Chandigarh 30
 Changes in legislation
 The Indian telecommunications system continues to
be governed by the provisions of the Indian
Telegraph Act, 1885 (ITA 1885) and the Indian
Wireless Act, 1933. Substantial changes have taken
place in the telecommunications sector since 1992.
ITA 1885 needs to be replaced with a more forward
looking Act.

Nidhi Gautam Prabhakar, Assistant

Professor UIAMS, Panjab University
Chandigarh 31
 BROADBAND POLICY 2004
 Recognizing the potential of ubiquitous Broadband service in growth of GDP and
enhancement in quality of life through societal applications including tele-
education, tele-medicine, e-governance, entertainment as well as employment
generation by way of high speed access to information and web-based
communication, Government have finalized a policy to accelerate the growth of
Broadband services.
 Demand for Broadband is primarily conditioned and driven by Internet and PC
penetration.  It is recognized that the current level of Internet and Broadband access
in the country is low as compared to many Asian countries.
 Penetration of Broadband, Internet and Personal Computer (PC) in the country was
0.02%, 0.4% and 0.8% respectively at the end of December, 2003.
 Currently, high speed Internet access is available at various speeds from 64 kilobits
per second (kbps) onwards and presently an always-on high speed Internet access at
128 kbps is considered as ‘Broadband'. There  are no uniform standards for
Broadband connectivity and various countries follow various standards.
 Government envision an accelerated growth in Internet penetration and PC as the
success of Broadband would largely be dependent on their spread. 

Nidhi Gautam Prabhakar, Assistant

Professor UIAMS, Panjab University
Chandigarh 32
 Broadband connectivity
 Keeping in view the present status, Broadband connectivity is
defined at present as
“An ‘always-on' data connection that is able to support interactive services
including Internet access and has the capability of the minimum download
speed of 256 kilo bits per second (kbps) to an individual subscriber from the
Point Of Presence (POP) of the service provider intending to provide
Broadband service where multiple such individual Broadband connections are
aggregated and the subscriber is able to access these interactive services
including the Internet through this POP.  The interactive services will exclude
any services for which a separate license is specifically required, for example,
real-time voice transmission, except to the extent that it is presently permitted
under ISP license with Internet Telephony.”

Nidhi Gautam Prabhakar, Assistant

Professor UIAMS, Panjab University
Chandigarh 33
The estimated growth for Broadband and Internet
subscribers in the country envisaged through various
technologies is as follows:

Year Ending Internet Subscribers Broadband Subscribers

2005 6 million 3 million

2007 18 million 9 million

2010 40 million 20 million

Nidhi Gautam Prabhakar, Assistant

Professor UIAMS, Panjab University
Chandigarh 34
Technology Options for Broadband
Services
Optical Fibre Technologies
Digital Subscriber Lines(DSL) on copper loop
Cable TV Network

Satellite Media
Terrestrial Wireless

Future Technologies

Nidhi Gautam Prabhakar, Assistant

Professor UIAMS, Panjab University
Chandigarh 35
 Quality of Service (QoS)
 As per TRAI Act, 1997, TRAI has to prescribe QoS
parameters.
 Government recognizes that QoS parameters are
extremely important and have an impact on investment
and roll-out decisions of operators. 
 TRAI would be requested to prescribe QoS parameters
for provisioning of broadband service using various
access technologies at an early date.

Nidhi Gautam Prabhakar, Assistant

Professor UIAMS, Panjab University
Chandigarh 36
 Simplification of SACFA / WPC
clearance
 The VSAT operators shall be allowed to start the installation process for VSAT
terminals after a period of one month of submitting all relevant documents to WPC
for SACFA / WPC clearance wherever the total height of such installation is less
than 5 meters above the rooftop of an authorized building.
 In the case of Receive Only VSAT terminals and DTH with Receive Only Internet,
no SACFA / WPC clearance will be required wherever the total height of such
installation is less than 5 meters above the rooftop of an authorized building.
 Government have decided that the reference to WLL in IND49 of NFAP-2002 shall
be deleted to promote use of indigenously developed technologies.  This would
enable service providers, other than basic service operators, to use the 1880-1900
MHz band for provision of various services under their licence.
 A transparent scheme is being outlined separately for time-bound frequency
allocation, sitting clearance and wireless licensing by removing the cumbersome
procedures, computerization and by setting predetermined standards.

Nidhi Gautam Prabhakar, Assistant

Professor UIAMS, Panjab University
Chandigarh 37
Other Issues
 Bandwidth a viability including international bandwidth
 National Internet Exchange of India (NIXI)
 Role of other Agencies
 Fiscal Issues

Nidhi Gautam Prabhakar, Assistant

Professor UIAMS, Panjab University
Chandigarh 38
 Bandwidth a viability including
international bandwidth
 Bandwidth a viability including international bandwidth is a major driver
for broadband services. In a competitive environment, service providers are
expected to take appropriate steps for making required bandwidth available
in a time bound manner within their licence framework.
 Cost of bandwidth constitutes a major cost component for Broadband
services. 
 Government and TRAI would address this issue on priority.  TRAI has
already issued a consultation paper for international bandwidth leased line
cost and is expected to address the issue shortly.
 Government have recently decided to reduce the licence fee for
Infrastructure Provider category-II, who provides end to end bandwidth, to
6% of Adjusted Gross Revenue (AGR).
 Further, the amount of bank guarantee for such service provider has also
been reduced to Rs.5 crores from Rs.100 crores.

Nidhi Gautam Prabhakar, Assistant

Professor UIAMS, Panjab University
Chandigarh 39
 National Internet Exchange of India
(NIXI)
 National Internet Exchange of India (NIXI) has
been set up by DIT, Government of India to ensure
that Internet traffic, originating and destined for
India, should be routed within India.
 Itis expected that NIXI will take appropriate steps
for increasing the utilization of such facilities 

Nidhi Gautam Prabhakar, Assistant

Professor UIAMS, Panjab University
Chandigarh 40
Role of other Agencies
 PCs, content and applications are important constituents for
overall growth of Internet and Broadband services. Broadband
services will accelerate decentralized governance at Panchayat
level.
 The role of other facilitators such as electricity authorities,
Departments of ITs of various State Governments,
Departments of Local Self Governments, Panchayats,
Department of Health and Family Welfare, Department of
Education is very important to carry the advantage of
Broadband services to the users particularly in rural areas.

Nidhi Gautam Prabhakar, Assistant

Professor UIAMS, Panjab University
Chandigarh 41
 Fiscal Issues
 The Department of Telecommunications assigns a very high
priority to indigenous manufacture of Broadband related
equipments.
 It shall endeavour to work closely with the concerned
Ministries and Manufacturers' Associations so that the
equipments are available at an affordable price.
 The department is conscious of the fact that Broadband services
can reach the urban and rural consumers only if services are
offered at affordable and easy terms.
 Department of Telecommunications will work out a package in
consultation with Ministry of Finance and related Departments
as well as concerned service providers to achieve this.

Nidhi Gautam Prabhakar, Assistant

Professor UIAMS, Panjab University
Chandigarh 42
GUIDELINES FOR UPLINKING
FROM INDIA 2005
The applicant seeking permission to
set up an uplinking hub/ teleport or
uplink a TV Channel or uplink facility
by a News Agency should be a
company registered in India under the
Companies Act, 1956.

Nidhi Gautam Prabhakar, Assistant

Professor UIAMS, Panjab University
Chandigarh 43
 PERMISSION FOR SETTING UP OF
UPLINKING HUB/ TELEPORTS
Eligibility
Criteria
Period of Permission
Fee
Special Conditions/ Obligations

Nidhi Gautam Prabhakar, Assistant

Professor UIAMS, Panjab University
Chandigarh 44
Eligibility Criteria
In the applicant company, the foreign
equity holding including NRI/OCB/PIO
should not exceed 49%.
The Company should have a minimum
Net Worth as prescribed below:
Item Required Net Worth
Teleport for single channel capacity Rs. 1.00 Crore
Teleport for 6 channel capacity Rs. 1.50 Crore
Teleport for 10 channel capacity Rs. 2.50 Crore
Teleport for 15 channel capacity Rs. 3.00 Crore

Nidhi Gautam Prabhakar, Assistant

Professor UIAMS, Panjab University
Chandigarh 45
Period of Permission
Permission shall be granted for a period
of 10 years.

Nidhi Gautam Prabhakar, Assistant

Professor UIAMS, Panjab University
Chandigarh 46
Fee
The applicant will pay an amount of Rs.
Ten thousands as processing fee.
After being held eligible, the applicant
company shall pay a permission fee at
the rate of Rs. Five Lakhs per teleport.

Nidhi Gautam Prabhakar, Assistant

Professor UIAMS, Panjab University
Chandigarh 47
Special Conditions/ Obligations
The company shall uplink only those TV
channels which are specifically approved or
permitted by the Ministry of I&B for
uplinking from India.
The company shall stop uplinking TV
channels whenever permission/approval to
such a channel is withdrawn by the Ministry
of I&B.

Nidhi Gautam Prabhakar, Assistant

Professor UIAMS, Panjab University
Chandigarh 48
 PERMISSION FOR UPLINKING A NON-
NEWS & CURRENT AFFAIRS TV CHANNEL
Eligibility
Criteria
Period of Permission
Fee
Special Conditions/ Obligations

Nidhi Gautam Prabhakar, Assistant

Professor UIAMS, Panjab University
Chandigarh 49
Eligibility Criteria
The applicant company, irrespective of its
ownership, equity structure or management
control, would be eligible to seek permission.
The Company should have a minimum Net
Worth as prescribed below:
Item Required Net Worth

Single TV channel Rs. 1.50 Crore

For each additional TV channel Rs. 1.00 Crore

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Professor UIAMS, Panjab University
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Period of Permission
Permission shall be granted for a period
of 10 years.

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Professor UIAMS, Panjab University
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Fee
The applicant will pay an amount of Rs. Ten
thousands as processing fee.
After being held eligible, the applicant
company shall pay a permission fee at the
rate of Rs. Five Lakhs per channel.

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Professor UIAMS, Panjab University
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Special Conditions/ Obligations
 The applicant company shall obtain registration for each channel, in
accordance with the procedure laid down under the Downlinking
Guidelines notified by the Ministry of I&B separately.
 The applicant company permitted to uplink shall operationalize the
channel within a period of one year from the date the permission is
granted by the Ministry of I&B; failing which the permission is liable to
be withdrawn, after affording an opportunity of being heard.
 The sports channels/sports rights management companies having TV
broadcasting rights shall with immediate effect share their feed with
Prasar Bharati for national and international sporting events of national
importance, held in India or aboard, for terrestrial transmission and DTH
broadcasting (free-to-air) under the following conditions:
◦ i) The events of national importance shall be determined by the Ministry of I&B in
consultation with Ministry of Sports & Youth Affairs, Prasar Bharati and the concerned
sports channels/sports rights management companies. In case of cricket events, these
shall include all matches featuring India and the semi-finals and finals of international
competitions

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Professor UIAMS, Panjab University
Chandigarh 53
Special Conditions/ Obligations
◦ ii) The above conditions shall apply to all future events including those covered by existing
contracts of broadcasting rights. However, in the case of cricket events whose broadcasting
rights have been obtained by sports channels/right management companies prior to the issue
of the notification in the matter the rights holders will be obliged to share the feed for all
matches featuring India and finals of international competitions.
◦ iii) Prasar Bharati shall transmit the feed, free to air, on its terrestrial channel and carried
through the terrestrial network and/or the satellite/DTH mode.
◦ iv) The marketing of the events’ rights (terrestrial as well as satellite/DTH) will be decided
through mutual negotiations between Prasar Bharati and the rights holder. The marketing
rights should go to the party which offers to maximize the revenue.
◦ v) Revenue sharing formula of 75:25 in favour of rights holders without any minimum
guarantee/opportunity cost, should be applied.
 In the event of any dispute, the matter shall be referred to an arbitrator to
be appointed by Secretary, Ministry of Law and Justice out of the approved
panel of arbitrators.

Nidhi Gautam Prabhakar, Assistant

Professor UIAMS, Panjab University
Chandigarh 54
PERMISSION FOR UPLINKING A NEWS &
CURRENT AFFAIRS TV CHANNEL
Eligibility
Criteria
Period of Permission
Fee
Special Conditions/ Obligations

Nidhi Gautam Prabhakar, Assistant

Professor UIAMS, Panjab University
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Eligibility Criteria
 Foreign Equity holding including FDI/FII/NRI
investments should not exceed 26% of the Paid Up
equity of the applicant company.
 Permission will be granted only in cases where equity
held by the largest Indian shareholder is at least 51% of
the total equity, excluding the equity held by Public
Sector Banks and Public Financial Institutions as defined
in Section 4A of the Companies Act, 1956, in the New
Entity. The term largest Indian shareholder, used in this
clause, will include any or a combination of the
following:
(1) In the case of an individual shareholder,
(a) The individual shareholder
(b) A relative of the shareholder within the meaning of Section 6 of the
Companies Act, 1956.
(c) A company/ group of companies in which the individual shareholder/HUF to
Nidhi Gautam
which he belongs has management and controlling Prabhakar, Assistant
interest.
Professor UIAMS, Panjab University
Chandigarh 56
Eligibility Criteria
(2) In the case of an Indian company,
(a) The Indian company
(b) A group of Indian companies under the same management and
ownership control.
For the purpose of this Clause, “Indian company” shall be a company, which
must have a resident Indian or a relative as defined under Section 6 of the
Companies Act, 1956/ HUF, either singly or in combination holding at least
51% of the shares
Provided that in case of a combination of all or any of the entities mentioned
in Sub-Clause (1) and (2) above, each of the parties shall have entered into a
legally binding agreement to act as a single unit in managing the matters of
the applicant company.
While calculating foreign equity of the applicant company, the foreign
holding component, if any, in the equity of the Indian shareholder
companies of the applicant company will be duly reckoned on pro-rata
basis, so as to arrive at the total foreign holding in the applicant company.
Nidhi Gautam Prabhakar, Assistant
Professor UIAMS, Panjab University
Chandigarh 57
 Eligibility Criteria
• The company shall make full disclosure, at the time of application, of Shareholders

Agreements, Loan Agreements and such other Agreements that are finalized or
are proposed to be entered into. Any subsequent changes in these would be
disclosed to the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, within 15 days of any
changes, having a bearing on the foregoing Agreements.`
• It will be obligatory on the part of the company to intimate the Ministry of
I&B the changes in Foreign Direct Investment in the company, within 15 days of
such change.
• The applicant shall be required to intimate the names and details of all persons,
not being resident Indians, who are proposed to be inducted in the Board of
Directors of the company.
• The company shall be liable to intimate the names and details of any foreigners/
NRIs to be employed/ engaged in the company either as Consultants (or in any
other capacity) for more than 60 days in a year, or, as regular employees.
• At least 3/4th of the Directors on the Board of Directors of the company and all
key Executives and Editorial staff shall be resident Indians.

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Professor UIAMS, Panjab University
Chandigarh 58
Eligibility Criteria
 The representation on the Board of Directors of the company shall as
far as possible be proportionate to the shareholding.
 All appointments of key personnel (executive and editorial) shall be
made by the applicant company without any reference on from any
other company, Indian or foreign.
 The applicant company must have complete management control,
operational independence and control over its resources and assets and
must have adequate financial strength for running a news and current
affairs TV channel.
 CEO of the applicant company, known by any designation, and/ or
Head of the channel, shall be a resident Indian.
 The Company should have a minimum Net Worth as prescribed below:

Item Required Net Worth

Single TV channel Rs. 3.00 Crore
For each additional TV channel Rs. 2.00 Crore

Nidhi Gautam Prabhakar, Assistant

Professor UIAMS, Panjab University
Chandigarh 59
Period of Permission
Permission shall be granted for a period
of 10 years.

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Professor UIAMS, Panjab University
Chandigarh 60
Fee
The applicant will pay an amount of Rs.
Ten thousands as processing fee.
After being held eligible, the applicant
company shall pay a permission fee at the
rate of Rs. Five Lakhs per channel.

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Professor UIAMS, Panjab University
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Special Conditions/ Obligations
 Permission for usage of facilities/infrastructure for live news/footage
collection and transmission, irrespective of the technology used, will
be given to only those channels which are uplinked from India. To
ensure immediate compliance of this policy in respect of
permissions/licences given/to be given for utilization of
VSAT/RTTS/Satellite Video Phone and similar other infrastructure,
which lends itself for use in uplinking/point to point transfer of
content for broadcast purposes, separate guidelines will be issued by
the Ministry of Communications & Information Technology.
 The channel/company will ensure that its news and current affairs
content provider(s), if any, are accredited with the Press Information
Bureau. Such accredited content provider(s) only can use
equipment/platform for collection/transmission of news/footage.

Nidhi Gautam Prabhakar, Assistant

Professor UIAMS, Panjab University
Chandigarh 62
Special Conditions/ Obligations
 The company/channel should ensure that it uses equipment,
which is duly authorized and permitted by the competent
authority, or its content provider(s), if any, use equipment
duly authorized by the competent authority,
 It will be obligatory on the part of the company to intimate
the Ministry of I&B, the changes in Foreign Direct
Investment in the company, within 15 days of such change.
 The company/channel will be liable to intimate to the
Ministry of I&B the details of any foreigners/NRIs
employed/engaged by it for a period exceeding 60(sixty)
days.

Nidhi Gautam Prabhakar, Assistant

Professor UIAMS, Panjab University
Chandigarh 63
 PERMISSION FOR UPLINKING BY
INDIAN NEWS AGENCY.
Eligibility
Criteria
Period of Permission
Fee
Special Conditions/ Obligations

Nidhi Gautam Prabhakar, Assistant

Professor UIAMS, Panjab University
Chandigarh 64
Eligibility Criteria
The applicant company should be accredited
by Press Information Bureau (PIB).
The applicant company should be 100%
owned by Indian, with Indian Management
Control.

Nidhi Gautam Prabhakar, Assistant

Professor UIAMS, Panjab University
Chandigarh 65
Period of Permission
Periodof permission shall be as per
WPC (Wireless & Planning &
Coordination) license.

Nidhi Gautam Prabhakar, Assistant

Professor UIAMS, Panjab University
Chandigarh 66
Special Conditions/ Obligations
 The company shall use uplinking for news-
gathering and its further distribution to other
news agencies/broadcasters only.
 The company shall not uplink TV
programmes/channels for direct reception by
public.

Nidhi Gautam Prabhakar, Assistant

Professor UIAMS, Panjab University
Chandigarh 67
 POLICY GUIDELINES FOR DOWNLIKING OF
TELEVISION CHANNELS
 Ministry of I&B, Government of India, has
formulated policy guidelines for downlinking all
satellite television channels downlinked / received /
transmitted and re-transmitted in India for public
viewing.
 Consequently, no person/entity shall downlink a
channel, which has not been registered by the
Ministry of Information and Broadcasting under
these guidelines.

Nidhi Gautam Prabhakar, Assistant

Professor UIAMS, Panjab University
Chandigarh 68
 ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA FOR
APPLICANT COMPANIES
 The entity applying for permission for downlinking a channel,
uplinked from abroad, (i.e. Applicant Company), must be a company
registered in India under the Indian Companies Act, 1956, irrespective
of its equity structure, foreign ownership or management control.  
 The applicant company must have a commercial presence in India with
its principal place of business in India.
 The applicant company must either own the channel it wants
downlinked for public viewing, or must enjoy, for the territory of
India, exclusive marketing/ distribution rights for the same, inclusive
of the rights to the advertising and subscription revenues for the
channel and must submit adequate proof at the time of application.  
 In case the applicant company has exclusive marketing / distribution
rights, it should also have the authority to conclude contracts on behalf
of the channel for advertisements, subscription and programme
content.  
Nidhi Gautam Prabhakar, Assistant
Professor UIAMS, Panjab University
Chandigarh 69
ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA FOR
APPLICANT COMPANIES
 The applicant company should have a minimum net worth as prescribed
below:
Item Required net worth of the Co.
1. For downlinking one Channel Rs 1.50 Crores
2. Every Additional Channel Rs.1.00 Crores  

 The applicant company must provide names and details of all the
Directors of the Company and key executives such as CEO, CFO and
Head of Marketing etc to get their national security clearance.  
 The applicant company shall furnish, technical details such as
Nomenclature, make, model, name and address of the manufacturers of
the equipments/instruments to be used for downlinking and distribution,
the Block schematic diagram of the downlinking and distribution system
and also demonstrate the facilities for monitoring and storing record for
90 days.  

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Professor UIAMS, Panjab University
Chandigarh 70
ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA FOR REGISTRATION OF
CHANNELS FOR BEING DOWNLINKED  
 Only Companies permitted/eligible for permission to downlink, as
per previous slide, shall be eligible to apply for registration of
channels.  
 The downlinked channel must be licensed or permitted for being
broadcast by the regulatory or licensing authority of the country of
transmission, proof of which would have to be submitted at the
time of application.
 The channel being registered should not have been de registered
under these guidelines at the time of application.
 No News and Current Affairs channel shall be permitted to be
downlinked if it does not meet the following additional conditions:
 [Note: For the purpose of these guidelines, a non-News & Current
Affairs TV channel means a channel which does not have any
element of news & current Affairs in its programme content.]
Nidhi Gautam Prabhakar, Assistant
Professor UIAMS, Panjab University
Chandigarh 71
 GUIDELINES FOR OBTAINING LICENSE FOR
PROVIDING DIRECT-TO-HOME (DTH)
BROADCASTING SERVICE IN INDIA

 Direct-to-Home (DTH) Broadcasting Service, refers

to distribution of multi channel TV programmes in
Ku Band by using a satellite system by providing
TV signals direct to subscribers' premises without
passing through an intermediary such as cable
operator.

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Professor UIAMS, Panjab University
Chandigarh 72
Eligibility Criteria
i. Applicant Company to be an Indian Company registered under Indian Company's Act,
1956.
ii. Total foreign equity holding including FDI/NRI/OCB/FII in the applicant company
not to exceed 49%.
iii. Within the foreign equity, the FDI component not to exceed 20%.
iv. The quantum represented by that proportion of the paid up equity share capital to the
total issued equity capital of the Indian promoter Company, held or controlled by the
foreign investors through FDI/NRI/OCB investments, shall form part of the above
said FDI limit of 20%.
v. The applicant company must have Indian Management Control with majority
representatives on the board as well as the Chief Executive of the company being a
resident Indian.
vi. Broadcasting companies and/or cable network companies shall not be eligible to
collectively own more than 20% of the total equity of applicant company at any time
during the license period.  Similarly, the applicant company not to have more than
20% equity share in a broadcasting  and/or cable network company.
vii. The Licensee shall be required to submit the equity distribution of the Company in the
prescribed Proforma (Table I and  II of Annexure to Form-A) once within one month
of start of every financial year.
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Professor UIAMS, Panjab University
Chandigarh 73
Number of Licensees
 There will be no restrictions on the total number
of DTH licenses and these will be issued to any
person who fulfils the necessary terms and
conditions and subject to the security and technical
clearances by the appropriate authorities of the Govt.
 The company shall stop uplinking TV channels
whenever permission/approval to such a channel is
withdrawn by the Ministry of I&B.

Nidhi Gautam Prabhakar, Assistant

Professor UIAMS, Panjab University
Chandigarh 74
Period of license
 License will be valid for a period of 10 years from
the date of issue of wireless operational license by
Wireless planning and Coordination Wing of
Ministry of Communicatons.  However, the license
can be cancelled/suspended by the Licensor at any
time in the interest of Union of India.

Nidhi Gautam Prabhakar, Assistant

Professor UIAMS, Panjab University
Chandigarh 75