Up FDI cap in FM, DTH: TRAI

The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India on Wednesday recommended raising the foreign direct investment limit for broadcast carriage services such as DTH to 74 per cent and that in FM radio to 26 per cent. What TRAI wants

The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) on Wednesday recommended raising the foreign direct investment limit for broadcast carriage services such as DTH (direct-to-home) to 74 per cent and that in FM radio to 26 per cent. The existing limit for DTH and FM radio is 49 per cent and 20 per cent, respectively.

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The move is expected to benefit companies such as Dish TV, Reliance, Tata Sky and Airtel and radio companies like ENIL and Reliance Media World.

The investment limit for news and current affairs TV channels has been retained at 26 per cent. The FDI limit for local cable operators will also be 26 per cent.

The TRAI recommendations comes on the back of a request from the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting to review its two-year old recommendations in the wake of modification in the methodology of assessment of foreign investments in Indian companies.

“The basic approach has been to consider broadcasting services in two broad groups — carriage services and content services. The reason for differential treatment is that carriage services are in the nature of infrastructural services whereas content services are considered more sensitive,” said J.S. Sarma, chairman, TRAI.