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TRAI to hold open house in Bengaluru on monopoly/market dominance in cable TV services
NEW DELHI: Stakeholders in the cable TV services have a platform to voice their opinion. The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has announced an open house to be held in Bengaluru on issues relating to monopoly and market dominance in cable TV services.
TRAI sources told indiantelevision.com that only one open house is planned on the subject, based on the responses received.
Earlier, stakeholders had been given a final opportunity to give their comments by 1 July to its consultation paper on the subject issued on 3 June, and counter-comments by 8 July. The open house will be on 16 July.
The paper was aimed at wanting to know if stakeholders agreed that the state should be the relevant market for measuring market power in the cable TV sector or suggest alternatives.
In the first place, TRAI which said it had issued the paper at the instance of the Information and Broadcasting Ministry, wanted to know if stakeholders agreed that there is a need to address the issue of monopoly or market dominance in cable TV distribution and how its ill effects can be addressed.
The paper contained a series of fifteen questions touching various aspects. TRAI has sought to know whether curbing market dominance and monopolistic trends as well as restrictions in the relevant cable TV market should be based on area of operation or based on market share.
Those who support the area of operation option need to specify how the area of relevant market ought to be divided amongst MSOs for providing cable TV service. While those who feel that the monopolistic trends should be based on market share, should specify the threshold value of market share beyond which an MSO cannot be allowed to build market share on its own. The open house will also concentrate on devising ways of achieving this in a market where a MSO already possess market share beyond the threshold value. Furthermore, TRAI also wants comments on the suitability of the rules defined in the paper in this connection.
Stakeholders had to give their views about the threshold value increase indicated by the regulator, or suggest defining restrictions.
TRAI also wanted to know if ‘control‘ of an entity over other MSOs/LCOs be decided according to the conditions mentioned in the paper or suggestion on alternatives. Stakeholders wanting different restrictions to curb market dominance have been asked to suggest these.
TRAI has apart from this, sought to know whether the parameters listed by it in the paper are adequate with respect to mandatory disclosures for effective monitoring and compliance of restrictions on market dominance in Cable TV sector, and the periodicity of such disclosures.
The regulator wanted to know of any amendments to be made in the statutory rules/ executive orders for implementing the restrictions.
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Inshorts Group chief Deepit Purkayastha joins IAB video council for Southeast Asia and India
The co-founder and chief executive of the short-form content platform has been inducted into the IAB SEA+India Video Council, giving India a stronger voice in shaping digital video frameworks
NOIDA: India has long been the world’s most chaotic, multilingual and mobile-first digital market. Now, one of its most prominent short-video executives is getting a seat at the table where the rules are written.
Deepit Purkayastha, co-founder and chief executive of Inshorts Group, has been selected as a member of the IAB SEA+India Video Council for 2026. Run by the Interactive Advertising Bureau, the council brings together senior leaders from Southeast Asia and India to shape standards, best practices and measurement frameworks for the fast-evolving video and digital advertising ecosystem.
The timing is pointed. According to the IAMAI-Kantar Internet in India Report 2025, over 588 million Indians are now consuming short-video content, with growth increasingly driven by rural and non-metro audiences. India’s active internet user base has crossed 950 million, with 57 per cent of users now coming from rural markets. Yet the frameworks that govern how video consumption is measured and monetised were largely designed for single-language, Western markets and have struggled to keep pace with the scale, diversity and complexity of India’s digital landscape.
Purkayastha is no stranger to these debates. He already serves on the AI Council at Marketing and Media Alliance India and as co-chair of the Digital Entertainment Committee at the Internet and Mobile Association of India. His induction into the IAB SEA+India Video Council extends that influence into the global video standards arena.
Inshorts Group sits squarely at the intersection of these forces. Its flagship product, Inshorts, India’s highest-rated short news app, reaches 12 million active users with 60-word news summaries. Its sister platform, Public App, reaches 80 million monthly active users across more than 700 districts and 12 languages, serving communities that most global platforms barely register.
Purkayastha said the opportunity was about building something more representative. “India today sits at the centre of the global video ecosystem, but the frameworks that define how value is created and measured have not always kept pace with the realities of our market,” he said. “Being part of the IAB SEA+India Video Council is an opportunity to contribute to a more representative and future-ready approach, one that accounts for diversity in language, context, and user intent.”
As a council member, Purkayastha will contribute to shaping regional standards across video advertising, measurement and platform governance, with a focus on frameworks that are native to India’s multilingual, mobile-first ecosystem rather than imported from global benchmarks designed elsewhere.
For years, India has been content to play by rules written for other markets. Purkayastha’s induction is a signal that it is done waiting to be consulted and ready to start writing them.
