NEW DELHI: The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India wants to know from stakeholders what could be the operational, commercial, technical and regulatory issues which require to be addressed at the time of developing policy and regulatory framework for enabling infrastructure sharing in the broadcasting TV distribution space.

In a pre-consultation paper on infrastructure sharing in broadcasting TV distribution sector for which it wants comments by 23 June, TRAI has also asked whether stakeholders envisage any requirement for change in the existing licensing/registration framework laid for DTH, DAS and HITS broadcasting services.

It has also sought to know what could be the implications of allowing separation of network and service provider functions at distribution level and how can the responsibilities be divided between the network and service providers.

The regulator wants to know what more can be shared by the distributor platform operators (MSOs, HITS, DTH) for better utilization of infrastructure.

TRAI said the pre-consultation paper had been issued with an aim to solicit stakeholder’s views on issues related to sharing of infrastructure on voluntary basis and separation of network and service provider functions so as to reduce cost of distribution of services and enhance competition in respect of all type of TV distribution platforms.

It has separate chapters on provides information on existing licensing framework for various kinds of TV distribution platforms; the probable scope, benefit & challenges for infrastructure sharing; and separation of network and service provider functions.