Regulators
TRAI outlines 6G, AI and inclusion roadmap for broadcast sector
Ashok Kumar Jha calls for tech leap, rural reach and FAST rules.
MUMBAI: The future of television, it seems, may not come with a remote at all. At the 22nd Video Broadcast and Broadband Tech Summit hosted by IndianTelevision Dot Com, Ashok Kumar Jha, Principal Advisor, Broadcast and Cable Services at the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI), painted an expansive vision of what the next five years could hold for India’s media and entertainment ecosystem from gesture-controlled TV and AI agents to rural inclusion and regulatory reform.
Opening his keynote, Jha acknowledged IndianTelevision Dot Com founder Anil Wanvari and reflected on the platform’s journey from a news magazine 18 years ago to a digital presence that began 26 years ago. But the nostalgia was brief. The focus quickly shifted to the summit’s theme managing the great acceleration in technoloGY and what that acceleration means for a country as diverse as India.
For Jha, technological acceleration is not a uniform wave lifting all boats. It is layered and unequal. Out of roughly 33 crore households in India, around 23 crore have television access. On the telecom side, nearly 130 crore Indians own phones, but only about 100 crore have broadband connections. That leaves 30 crore people on feature phones without data access.
“How do we reach them?” was the question he returned to repeatedly.
He divided the challenge into two Indias those who have access and those who do not. For the connected viewer, the issue is no longer availability but experience. India’s combined pay TV base, including cable and DTH, stands at around 9.5 crore homes, with DTH alone accounting for roughly 6.4 crore. Yet consumer expectations have evolved far beyond channel surfing.
Today’s viewer, Jha argued, expects seamless switching between linear TV and OTT platforms, intuitive discovery and frictionless control. The traditional remote, he suggested, may soon give way to gesture and voice. With 6G technologies expected to take shape around 2030, integrated sensing and communication systems could allow networks themselves to act as sensors. A simple hand movement could change channels; a spoken command could summon archived content within milliseconds.
Artificial intelligence will sit at the heart of this shift. Jha envisaged AI agents that can access vast broadcaster repositories and data centres instantly, fetching specific episodes from specific years on command. Monetisation models will adapt, but the speed and responsiveness will redefine user experience.
Behind the screen, infrastructure will have to scale dramatically. India’s data centre capacity, currently estimated between 1.5 and 1.9 gigawatts, could rise to around 10 gigawatts by 2030. Technologies such as hollow core fibre which uses air instead of glass to transmit light, thereby reducing latency are being developed to support ultra-fast networks. Lower heat generation and higher efficiency will be critical as capacity expands.
Yet Jha was equally clear that innovation must not bypass the unconnected. In areas lacking electricity or broadband, low-cost set-top boxes and solar-powered solutions could bridge gaps. He referenced studies, including one by IIM Andhra Pradesh, suggesting that television penetration could grow alongside rural GDP growth and demographic shifts. As dependency ratios rise with larger proportions of young and elderly populations in-home media consumption is expected to increase.
Government incentives, including production-linked schemes, are already aimed at boosting domestic manufacturing and TV penetration. But Jha also pointed to emerging broadcast technologies such as ATSC 3.0 operating in the 470 to 582 MHz band, which could enable television delivery directly to mobile devices through software-defined radios and compatible chips. Such hybrid models would not only expand access but also strengthen communication resilience during disasters, when multiple layers GSM, radio and television become vital.
On the distribution front, Jha highlighted the flexibility of satellite, terrestrial and low Earth orbit systems, arguing that broader technology choices could reduce bandwidth constraints and expand high-definition offerings. Regulatory reforms are also under consideration. TRAI has recommended granting infrastructure status to broadcasters and cable operators to ease financing and operational bottlenecks. It has proposed faster clearances within 15 days to one month for local cable operators, enabling smoother service rollout.
Significantly, Jha urged local cable operators to consider becoming internet service providers. With fibre-to-the-home targets falling short of earlier ambitions to cover 50 per cent of households by 2022, cable networks present an existing last-mile opportunity. Bundled broadband and TV offerings, he suggested, could reverse stagnation in linear television revenues.
The financial landscape underscores the urgency. Digital media revenue is projected at around Rs 900 billion in 2025, growing at a CAGR of about 11 per ceent and having surpassed television revenue in 2024. Television revenue stands at approximately Rs 676 billion, reflecting a marginal dip of about minus 0.6 per cent. Online print media is steady at around Rs 262 billion, while online gaming, also near Rs 262 billion, faces disruption following the 2025 ban on real-money games.
In response, Jha called for collective action among network service operators and local cable operators to enhance consumer satisfaction rather than compete destructively. He proposed the creation of a formal Consumer Satisfaction Index for the sector, where operators would be rated on parameters such as picture quality, website usability, seamless OTT integration and service responsiveness. Transparency, he argued, would build trust and drive improvement.
He also turned to FAST free ad-supported streaming television noting its rapid growth and confirming that the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting has sought TRAI’s recommendations. A pre-consultation paper is expected shortly, and Jha urged industry stakeholders to participate actively in shaping guidelines that balance innovation with consumer protection.
Throughout the address, one theme resonated: collaboration. Technology, policy, entrepreneurship and industry coordination must move in tandem. The ultimate test, Jha suggested, is simple yet profound, when a child in a remote village opens their eyes, or when an elderly viewer seeks companionship in a screen, does the system deliver a smile?
The great acceleration is already underway. Whether it becomes a widening gap or a shared leap forward will depend on how decisively the industry acts now.
High Court
Court defers Madison–CCI case to May 11
Interim relief continues as Centre seeks time to respond
NEW DELHI: The legal face-off between Madison Communications Pvt. Ltd. and the Competition Commission of India has been pushed to May 11, 2026, after the Union Government failed to file its response to the agency’s petition. The Delhi High Court granted the Centre a final two weeks to submit its affidavit, making it clear that any further delay could invite an adverse inference.
For now, the interim relief granted earlier will remain in place. This means the CCI cannot take any coercive steps against Madison or its senior executives until the matter is heard again, offering the agency temporary breathing room.
The dispute stems from a wide-ranging antitrust probe launched by the CCI into alleged cartelisation in the advertising industry. In March 2025, the regulator carried out raids on multiple agencies, including Madison, after receiving a leniency application from rival firm Dentsu. The watchdog suspects that agencies coordinated media rates and discounts through private groups, potentially breaching competition law.
Madison has challenged the investigation in court, questioning both its legality and procedure. The agency claims that its chairman Sam Balsara and executive director Vikram Sakhuja were questioned for nearly 20 hours without access to legal counsel and in the presence of armed personnel. It has also argued that the focus of the probe is misplaced, contending that the Indian Society of Advertisers’ Model Agency Agreement, rather than agency conduct, is what constrains competition by limiting margins.
Further, Madison alleges that the CCI did not provide a proper search memo or a detailed inventory of the digital data seized during the raids, raising concerns about due process.
With the interim protection extended, the spotlight now shifts to the Union Government. Its response over the next fortnight will determine whether the investigation regains momentum or faces deeper judicial scrutiny.
