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To safeguard their DTH interests, one of the top Indian telecom company, Bharti Airtel has reportedly urged the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) to regulate content broadcast over internet. TheHinduBusinessLine reports that Bharti Airtel has requested that wired and wireless broadband broadcasting be subject to regulation.The exclusive content and distribution rights of TV programmes can be obtained by telecom service providers (TSPs), who can then provide it to only their subscribers.
One can't miss that Jio's dominance in broadband content distribution has grown at the same time that Airtel is making this request. At a time when Indian Premier League, widely watched across the country is ongoing, users of JioCinema can access IPL 2023 for free on a variety of platforms, including TVs, smartphones, laptops, and tablets. A user only requires a broadband connection. Many DTH (Direct-to-Home) operators' businesses would be impacted by this.
With distribution rights for IPL 2023, it is made available to subscribes of Jio, that happens to be the sole operator having a Viacom-18 affiliated programming division, providing customers of other major telcos including Airtel and Vi the option to switch to Jio cinema subscription.
The government now regulates content delivery via DTH, MSO, IPTV, and HITS, but not via landline or wireless broadband services.
With Jio's very reasonably priced Rs 198 broadband and prepaid subscriptions, users have access to the internet, allowing them to download and watch the IPL 2023 on the JioCinema app. The DTH companies are losing viewers as a result of this.
The Hindu Business Line report further added that when it comes to discriminatory bundling strategies, which Jio hasn't yet used, Airtel wants TRAI to keep an eye on them. Reliance Jio also stated that it doesn't want the rules to change at all. Jio doesn't see any issues with the way things are currently going. The telco claimed that because the draught telecom law 2022 is still being rewritten, it is best to hold off on making any adjustments until all questions regarding the bill's provisions have been answered.
It won't be wrong to anticipate that telecom networks will be the next major technology for video distribution as the 5G deployment will enable faster data transfer rates with minimal latency. Although India has a larger DTH and cable industry than the majority of other nations, this market base is expected to shrink as broadband services progress.