(30 March 2009 7:20 pm)

NEW DELHI: The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) has extended till 14 April the date for receiving comments from the stakeholders on DTH issues relating to tariff regulation and new issues under reference from Ministry of Information and Broadcasting.

Trai said Monday the date was being extended as some stakeholders wanted more time.

The sector regulator had issued the consultation paper on 6 March and the comments had been sought by 30 March.

Trai in its consultation paper had sought views from stakeholders on retail tariff regulation, along the lines imposed for cable services in Cas areas.

The sector regulator had also asked for views from stakeholders regarding value-added-services (such as movie-on-demand, pay-per-View), platform services (such as active learning, active stories) and carriage of radio channels on the direct-to-home platform.

The issues falling under the ambit of debate included carriage fee, tariff between broadcasters and DTH operators and their subscribers. Trai has raised questions such as: Is a cap on carriage fee needed? Should the fee be the same across the DTH operators? If the variation model is to be adopted, should it be based on the subscriber base?