NEW DELHI: With the deadline for Phase III of digital addressable system (DAS) virtually at the doorstep, the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has created a Google form to gain first-hand information about every local cable operator (LCO) in the country.  

According to information available with Indiantelevision.com there are more than 60,000 LCOs in the country and no authority at present has the complete information about each of them. 

According to TRAI, the aim was part of its function to regulate the telecom and broadcasting services; lay-down the standards of quality of service to be provided by service providers and ensure level playing field amongst the service providers and nurture the condition for the growth of the sector.

The regulator said it had been taking up several activities to protect the interest of cable operators, address their grievances and educate them about their rights and obligations. 

However it required data to keep the LCOs updated about the policies and regulation made by TRAI, data related to the LCOs such as name, address, e-mail, mobile number and city of operation etc.

The online information gathering mechanism through a single Google form will help the regulator get all the information about the LCOs, which will be stored by TRAI in its database.

The form, which is easy to fill, has only sought the full contact details of the LCO, whether he gets his signals from the broadcaster or multi system operators, and the names of the MSOs he is attached to.

The link to the form is 

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1dWCwSlNEkcAqFbQhep9T7OmOhfHZSNN5UMFGr2a1wyc/viewform?usp=send_form or http://goo.gl/forms/q34NG1AHHf