Bharti Airtel has reportedly approached the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) over alleged violations of downlinking policies by broadcasters who provide content to unregistered digital distribution platforms. The move is widely believed to be a response to Reliance Industries subsidiary Jio TV streaming the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023 matches.
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Created an anti-competitive environment
Bharti Airtel has said that delivering the same broadcast through an app on large screens has created an anti-competitive environment and given an unfair advantage to unregulated distribution platforms (DPOs), according to a PTI Report.
"As per MIB's downlinking policy, the broadcaster is under an obligation to provide services only through registered DPOs (such as DTH providers). By providing broadcast content to unregistered digital distribution platforms, the broadcasters are violating the downlinking policy, which needs to be addressed by MIB (Ministry of Information and Broadcasting) and TRAI," Airtel was quoted in the Report.
The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) introduced the principle to ensure broadcasters provide content to all distribution platforms on a non-discriminatory basis. However, it becomes inapplicable in cases where the same broadcast content (as shown on registered distribution platforms) is being carried over broadband as a medium," According to Bharti Airtel.
Content being priced differently across platforms raises concern
Bharti Airtel has also raised concerns that content is being priced differently across distribution platforms such as DTH and wireline or wireless broadband. Star Sports has rights as the official broadcaster of IPL 2023 matches, while Viacom18, which is owned by Reliance Industries, has digital streaming rights. In addition, JioCinema is streaming IPL matches for free on its platform, a move that has come under scrutiny from its rivals.
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Regulatory oversight needed to create level playing field
Bharti Airtel has called for regulatory oversight of situations where content acquired may only be provided to its own customers on wired or wireless broadband, excluding the rest of the subscriber base from accessing such content. It has argued that showing the same content at arbitrary pricing norms on a digital platform defeats TRAI tariff regulations and creates a non-level playing field for the sector's overall growth.
