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TRAI to set guidelines for 4G spectrum
NEW DELHI: The Telecom Regularity Authority of India (TRAI) is well set to release a consultation paper on the roll out of 4G spectrum, even as the United States Federal Communications Commission (FCC) grapples with the challenge of digital exclusion and non-adoption of broadband by small businesses.
“We will ready with a consultation paper on 4G in a week and expect the regulations to be in place in the next few months,” TRAI Chairman J S Sarma announced here today.
Speaking at a meeting organized by FICCI on ‘The Road to Broadband — Investment & Innovation’, Sarma said the consultation paper will address issues such as adoption of an optic fibre network, cost of bandwidth, tariffs and the relationship between telecom service providers and internet service providers.
Dr Sarma said TRAI would aim at making broadband an alternative model for the delivery of governance. “We would like to see that broadband is used for improving human development and giving a fillip to agriculture and social sector issues such as healthcare and education.”
FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski emphasized the economic opportunities arising out of extending broadband to unserved areas, adding that there was a clear co-relation between the adoption of broadband and increasing GDP.
He expressed concern over trends in the US indicating a widening gap between the supply of spectrum and the demand from mobile broadband 3G technology users. The US National Broadband Plan was focussing on decreasing the cost on investment through higher incentives and maximising the depth of infrastructure. It seeks to promote competition and transparency, public safety and accelerating the movement towards E-government.
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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.
