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Trai seeks views on carriage & placement fees and carriage of minimum channels
MUMBAI: The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) has issued a consultation paper seeking comments from all stakeholders on placement and carriage fees and also over the requirements of minimum channel carrying capacity to be set up by MSOs.
These three provisions in the Interconnection Regulations have been set aside by the Telecom Disputes Settlement & Appellate Tribunal (Tdsat) on petitions by MSOs.
The consultation paper issued on Thursday also attempts to make amendments to the Tariff Order applicable for addressable systems – both MSOs and direct-to-home (DTH) services, through the consultation process. Trai has sought responses from stakeholders on its plan to link the prices of channel bouquets and individual (or a-la-carte) channels, to make it mandatory for provision of both free-to-air and pay channels on a-la-carte basis and to restrict offer of channels requiring special type of STBs only on a-la-carte basis or as part of separate bouquets that consists of only those category of channels that require a particular type of specialised STB.
Trai has called for submission of views and reasons thereof by all the stakeholders by 11 January.
Responses Sought on following issues related to amendments to the Interconnection Regulations:
Whether the following proviso should be introduced in the clause 3(2): "provided that the provisions of this sub-regulation shall not apply in the case of a multi-system operator, which seeks signals of a particular TV channel from a broadcaster, while at the same time demanding carriage fee for carrying that channel on its distribution platform."
Clause 3(2) has safeguards with regard to charging of carriage fee: (1) Carriage fee to be transparently declared in the RIO of the MSO, (2) The carriage fee is to be uniformly charged (3) The carriage fee not to be revised upwardly for a minimum period of 2 years, and (4) The details of the carriage fee are to be filed with the Authority and the Authority has a right to intervene in cases it deems fit.
Trai said if any of the stakeholder is against this provisions, it should state the reasons thereof.
(a) Whether there is a need to specify certain minimum channel carrying capacity for the MSOs in the interconnection regulations for DAS.
(b) If yes, what should be the different categories (example cities/town/rural area) of areas and the minimum channel carrying capacity for each area.
Whether there is a need for regulating the placement fee in all the Digital Addressable Systems. If so, how it should be regulated. The stakeholders have been asked to submit their comments with justifications.
Responses sought on following Issues related to amendments to the Tariff Order applicable for Addressable Systems:
Trai has suggested (a) a ceiling on the a-la-carte rates of pay channels forming part of bouquet(s) which shall not exceed three times the ascribed value of the pay channel in the bouquet and (b) that the a-la-carte rates of pay channels forming part of bouquet(s) shall not exceed two times the a-la carte rate of the channel offered by the broadcaster at wholesale rates for addressable systems.
The stakeholders have been asked to offer their comments on the above conditions to prevent perverse a-la-carte pricing of the pay channels being offered as part of the bouquet(s). The stakeholders can also submit any other formulation that can achieve the same objective, along with its justification.
To deletion of the word "Pay" to make it mandatory to offer both free-to-air and pay channels on a-la-carte basis. Trai calls it: "Freedom to choose the channel(s) on a-la-carte and/or bouquet(s)."
Whether the channels that require special type of STB be offered only on a-la-carte basis or as part of separate bouquets that consists of only those channels that require a particular type of specialised STB.
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With 57 per cent single new users, Ashley Madison rebrands as discreet dating platform
Platform says majority of new members now identify as single
INDIA: Ashley Madison is shedding the “married-dating” label that defined it for two decades, repositioning itself as a platform for discreet dating in what it calls the post-social media age.
The rebrand, unveiled in India on 27 February, 2026, marks a structural shift in business model and identity. Once synonymous with married dating, the company now describes itself as the “premier destination for discreet dating” under a new tagline: Where Desire Meets Discretion.
The pivot is data-driven. Internal figures show that 57 per cent of global sign-ups between 1 January and 31 December, 2025 identified as single: a notable departure from the platform’s married core. The company argues that its community has already evolved beyond its original positioning.
“In an age where our lives have been constantly put on public display, privacy has become the new luxury,” said Ashley Madison chief strategy officer Paul Keable. He framed the platform’s offering as “ethical discretion” for singles, separated, divorced and non-monogamous users seeking private connections.
The shift also taps into wider digital fatigue. A global survey conducted by YouGov for Ashley Madison, covering 13,071 adults across Australia, Brazil, Canada, Germany, India, Italy, Mexico, Spain, Switzerland, the UK and the US, found mounting discomfort with hyper-public online lives.
Among dating app users, 30 per cent cited constant swiping and messaging as a source of fatigue, while 24 per cent pointed to pressure to curate public-facing profiles and early personal disclosure. Some 27 per cent said fears of screenshots or information being shared contributed to exhaustion; an equal share cited unwanted attention.
The retreat from oversharing appears broader. According to the survey, 46 per cent of adults actively try to keep most aspects of their life private online. Only 8 per cent feel comfortable sharing most aspects publicly, while 35 per cent say they are becoming more selective about what they disclose.
Ashley Madison is betting that this cultural recalibration towards controlled visibility can be monetised. By doubling down on privacy infrastructure and reframing itself around discretion rather than infidelity, the company is attempting to convert reputational baggage into a premium proposition.
