iWorld
Mergers and acquisition policy being given final touches
NEW DELHI: Though the Department of Telecom (DoT) is expected to drop the three-year mandatory lock-in period for promoters of telecom companies under the new mergers and acquisition rules expected this week, the recent reports of high reserve price for spectrum may prove to be counter-productive.
Initially, the government had introduced the lock-in period to prevent speculative players from misusing the opportunity to sell spectrum at market price after acquiring spectrum from the government under the first-come-first-served policy.
But since fresh spectrum allocation is being done only through auction and older players who had got spectrum under the earlier dispensation have completed more than three years, the government has decided that the lock-in period is not necessary.
The draft of the M&A norms say that “Further lock-in condition may hamper the progress and roll out of capital intensive telecom projects as shareholders may not be able to invest further equity.”
Industry sources feel that some of the players in each circle may want to leave because of poor financial returns and increasing debt.
The proposed M&A policy may not allow such players to leave, and rules are clear on issues such as spectrum trading, and the draft also says the buyer will have to pay the government the market price for any spectrum the seller holds under the older dispensation of first-come-first-served.
While the TRAI had initially proposed a flat fee, the DoT is keen to retain the existing slab system where operators with higher amount of spectrum have to pay a higher revenue share.
eNews
Barc India, Nielsen launch Barc | Nielsen One Ads, a unified cross-media ad measurement tool
JioHotstar to deploy cross-screen measurement during T20 World Cup 2026
MUMBAI: Broadcast Audience Research Council India and Nielsen have joined forces to launch Barc | Nielsen One Ads, a cross-media measurement system designed to give advertisers a unified view of advertising performance across television and digital platforms.
The new framework combines Barc India’s linear television viewership data with digital audience measurement from Nielsen One Ads. The result is a single dataset that measures advertising reach and frequency across four screens: linear tv, connected tv, mobile and computer, while removing duplicated audiences across devices.
The move comes as India’s media landscape grows increasingly fragmented, with advertisers struggling to reconcile data from multiple platforms. The joint system aims to provide a single, deduplicated picture of campaign performance and audience reach.
“This marks a defining moment for cross-media ad measurement in India,” said Barc India chief executive Nakul Chopra. “Barc | Nielsen One Ads brings together television and digital screens in a unified system, enabling advertisers to understand their true reach and incremental impact across the entire media ecosystem.”
Nielsen chief product officer Akhil Parekh, said the collaboration addresses a long-standing challenge for advertisers. “Brands have had to stitch together fragmented data to understand how campaigns perform. A single, deduplicated view across screens is something the industry has needed for years.”
The first deployment will take place on JioHotstar, which will use the system to measure advertising during the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2026 hosted by India and Sri Lanka. Barc India said the framework could expand to include more broadcasters and platforms if industry demand grows.
Among the system’s key features are unified four-screen reporting, advanced reach deduplication to eliminate duplicate viewers across devices, and detailed metrics including average frequency, gross rating points and demographic performance.
