AVIA commentary news

The Centre’s new draft Bill, which seeks to overhaul the regulatory system for the broadcasting sector, expands the scope from traditional services like television — both news and entertainment — to OTT (over-the-top) platforms and digital content, including news programmes (currently regulated through the Information Technology Act, 2000) and other emerging technologies.

The federal government has now taken a strict stance relating to OTT platforms like Amazon Prime, Netflix, Disney Hotstar.

Recently, the Department of Telecoms tried to ease nerves by saying there was little concern about telecom companies compromising net neutrality norms.

Five years after net neutrality’s (temporary) demise, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is set to fulfill the Biden administration’s vision of re-implementing the Obama-era policy.

In part one of this special report last week, APB+ spoke with Intelsat, MEASAT, and Es’hailSat on some of the key challenges facing the satellite broadcasting industry today. This week, the conversation continues with a look at the key enabling technologies and strategies that are enabling satellite broadcasters to thrive in an OTT world.

Digital Media Content Regulatory Council chairperson Justice (retd) Mukul Mudgal has asked the member OTT platforms to remain "disciplined" and not cross the line that separates good content from "unnecessary profanity".

The proposed fair-share charge to be levied on from over-the-top (0TT) service providers will not violate net neutrality allegations around the same seek to misguide and confuse people, the Cellular Operators Association of India(COAI) said on Wednesday.

Beyond the issue of net neutrality, it is the issue of licensing conditions of OTT communication services like WhatsApp and Signal that will be most concerning.

The final Telecom Bill should aim to minimise regulatory burden, uncertainty, and overlaps across different laws in the innovation rich value-added services, IT industry's apex body Nasscom said.

Conflict between the service providers and OTT players has intensified with the telcos asking the regulator to bring OTT companies under unified licensing regime.

IAMAI has said that any framework that ‘leads’ to revenue sharing between OTT platforms and telecom operators would violate net neutrality.

The Indian Council for Research on International Economic Relations (ICRIER) launched a working paper, supported by the Broadband India Forum (BIF), aimed at charting a course for spectrum assignment in India’s satellite communication sector.

Special Rapporteurs of the United Nations have expressed concerns over the proposed Online Safety Act and Broadcasting Regulatory Commission Act.

The Broadcasting Services (Regulation) Bill released in November by the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (MIB) is part of an arc of endeavours to regulate broadcasting in an integrated manner.

OPINION: The Federal Labor Government appears to be hell bent on controlling what Australians watch on their TVs, and streaming display screens in particular which news sources consumers interact with claim observers.

Piracy has and continues to be a problem in many parts of the world, and Taiwan is no exception. The forms of piracy change with changing technologies, and given that Taiwan is a sophisticated, advanced economy, one would not be surprised to learn that the main forms of piracy are also relatively sophisticated.

In the realm of cinema, the age-old adage “Content is king” holds undeniable truth. However, recent years have seen a shift in the Indian film industry, where the pursuit of compelling, original narratives has given way to a troubling trend of content replication.

Telecom operators' contention to mandate over-the-top players pay network usage fees and the government's intent to impose telecom licensing frameworks on OTTs would lead to a violation of the Net Neutrality principles and guidelines of 2016, said Broadband India Forum (BIF).

Chairperson Justice Dhirubhai Naranbhai Patel and member Subodh Kumar Gupta observed that prima facie, OTT platforms are not covered by the definition of ‘distribution platform’ under regulation 2(r) of TRAI Regulations.

The boss of the News Corp-owned pay TV business says a suite of media reforms on the government’s agenda favour the free-to-air networks.

Nepal must promote innovation while protecting national security and safeguarding consumer rights.

India's nascent space industry has mad a strong pitch for administrative allocation of satellite-based spectrum, saying the auction route could hit the growth of the sector.

The company has recently released a white paper addressing 6G networks. In the realm of the next generation of mobile broadband, there are valuable lessons to be gleaned from the deployment of 5G, which, according to the SK Group, fell considerably short of the industry's initial expectations.