Finally, finally, finally. The Indian government, specifically - the Ministry of Information & Broadcasting - has issued guidelines for IPTV services in India. With this, private telecom operators like Bharti Airtel and Reliance Communications, as well as Internet Service Providers and Cable Operators can offer the service can offer the service. The guidelines are expected to be made available today, but here's what we have so far: Who can provide IPTV Services If they already have the the license or permission from the DoT, -- Telecom operators which have a UASL license -- ISPs with a net worth of over Rs. 100 crores, which have permission to provide IPTV services can go ahead without any further registration. -- Cable TV Operators registered under the Cable Television Network (Regulation) Act, 1995 Cable Operators and Telcos need to give a declaration to the I&B Ministry, Department of Telecom and TRAI, with details of date of commencement of the service, the area being covered and details of network infrastructure. We'll have more inputs on this, when the guidelines are uploaded on the MIB site...but looks unlikely, given that the MIB has tagged documents from 2007 as NEW. Some thoughts on the journey so far, for IPTV in India Despite the go-ahead, it's going to be a long, hard struggle for IPTV in India. Which also explains why telecom operators like Airtel and Reliance Communications are hedging their bets by investing in both DTH and IPTV. Franchise Operations: Too Many Cooks? Take a look…
