NEW DELHI: Broadcast and telecom regulator Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) has increased the transition period to 120 days for interconnection regulation to come into effect, thus giving time to industry stakeholders to honour their existing contracts and obligations.

Under an order issued on 10 December, 2004 on the Telecommunication (Broadcasting & Cable) Services Interconnection Regulations, the regulator had said the transition period would be 90 days for various stakeholders of the industry, including the consumer, before the industry migrates to a new regime.

Under the new regime, AMONGST OTHER THINGS, it had been proposed that all content must be made available to all platforms on a non-discriminatory basis and also that various interconnect agreements amongst stakeholders, like between an MSO and a broadcaster and an MSO and a cable operator, would have to be filed with the regulator.

Trai today said it has received a proposal to extend the transition period for another 60 days to enable all the existing agreements to come to an end to be compliant with the new set of regulations.

The regulator had called for comments / objections to the proposal vide its press release issued on 11 February. After examining the comments received on the subject, Trai has decided to extend the transition period for another 30 days to enable all the agreements to be compliant with the regulations, the regulator said in a statement issued today.

Though Trai officials were silent on who made the proposal, industry sources indicate that it was made by a broadcaster that rules the Indian airwaves in terms of revenue.