(21 August 2007 6:30 pm)

NEW DELHI: The inter-ministerial committee on IPTV is likely to meet soon under the aegis of the Prime Minister's office and discuss the status paper and note submitted to the PM by the Society for Indian Media Group (IMG).

The IMG has sent a detailed note which speaks of the potential threat to national security and the moral fabric of the country. It also states that IPTV and mobile TV should be brought under the purview of the I&B ministry if these issues have to addressed.

The inter-ministerial committee has been formed with ministers from Information & Broadcasting, Telecommunication and Finance ministries to specifically deal with the issue of content control on the IPTV platform.

This is because as per the Allocation of Business Rules of the government, IPTV is a telecom matter and I&B cannot deal with it. As I&B is the only authorised ministry to deal with television content, it is only the PMO who can change the rules and enable I&B to deal with this.

The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) is at the moment drafting its consultation papers on mobile TV and IPTV. Doordarshan has already started its mobile TV service and state-owned MTNL has launched its IPTV operations.

The letter to the PM, signed by IMG Honorary Secretary General A K Doval, calls for ending "the duality in approach in categorizing the content delivery platforms which have potential danger of undermining national security and threatening the moral fabric of Indian society."

It stresses that though the platform may be Internet, and hence technically under the Telecom ministry, the content that would be shown would be television and that IPTV is a subset of terrestrial broadcasting.

"The broadcasting of TV channels / video through IPTV and Mobile TV service is a full -fledged broadcasting service similar to Cable Service & DTH service and should in no manner, be treated otherwise so as to ensure the provision of level playing field," the IMG note says.

At the moment there is no clarity on the downlinking guidelines for the IPTV operators and they can show any number of channels available on the Internet, whereas the number of channels approved by the government for the cable sector is limited.

And whereas the national security and moral fabric concerns are true, the IMG also fears that the cable industry could plummet unless they have the same level playing field as IPTV or Mobile TV operators.

"Mobile TV and IPTV service providers should be subject to the same security and monitoring guidelines as well as Interconnect Regulations as are applicable for Cable TV and DTH services as notified from time to time," the IMG has demanded.

The note clarifies: "IPTV services are totally different from streaming TV over Internet. The channels are provided on a dedicated internet network. Digital Subscriber Line (DSL) can be used to provide hundreds of channels. The customers can use an IP box and can change channels as fast as on a digital cable or DTH system.

IPTV as a service will not necessarily be provided over copper DSL or optical fibre media. It can be provided over Wireless networks including Wi-Max networks.

This is a major threat to cable operations, and the IMG says: "This would mean that if no regulatory mechanism is put in place it would be a kind of backdoor entry into the terrestrial broadcasting domain, which will be difficult and in fact would be nearly impossible to be regulated at a later date."

The list of the major demands are

• IPTV and Mobile TV service providers should ensure compliance with the Programme Code, Advertisement Code and other guidelines issued on broadcasting content by the Government in respect of video services.
• IPTV and Mobile TV providers should carry only those channels, which have been provided downlinking license by the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting.
• Foreign investment in this sector is regulated keeping in view the social, cultural and security considerations and kept to the level permitted for the cable industry.
• Both IPTV & Mobile TV service providers should take a license for broadcasting of TV channels/video, from the Ministry of Information & Broadcasting.
• The Government has been empowered under the Cable Television Networks Act to take prompt corrective measures in the interest of security, sovereignty and integrity of India, public order, decency, and morality and provisions need to be made applicable to IPTV and Mobile TV which is an identical service to Cable TV.
• IPTV and Mobile TV are not brought under the ambit of the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting and Cable Networks (Regulation) Act 1995, and allowed to show only those channels approved by the ministry.