News Zee News to turn FTA on 8 June

Technoglitch

Technoglitch

Core Member
The Telecom Disputes Settlement & Appellate Tribunal (TDSAT) has stated that Zee Entertainment Enterprises’ (ZEEL) reference interconnection offer (RIO) requires serious consideration. This follows petitions filed by certain multi-system operators (MSOs) that the broadcaster’s RIO pricing is discriminatory and does not conform to the tribunal’s judgment. Accordingly, TDSAT has asked ZEEL not to disconnect signals to IndusInd Media & Communications Ltd (IMCL), Star Broadband Services, Intermedia Cable Communications (ICC), Home Network and JPR Channel, among others. The tribunal also instructed ZEEL to supply its TV signals to the MSOs in terms of the earlier arrangements subsisting before the issuance of the disconnection notice.

This means that ZEEL cannot go ahead with interconnection agreements based on the new RIO and will have to continue with ‘earlier subsisting arrangements’. The phrase ‘earlier subsisting arrangements’ would include not only the previous interconnection agreements in writing between the two sides, even though those might have expired before the publication of the RIO, but also any carriage agreement/placement agreement/discount agreement in case the latter was co-terminus with the interconnect agreement, the tribunal clarified. It also made it clear that in case of any default in payment in terms of the subsisting arrangement, it would be open to the broadcaster to proceed in accordance with law.


The petitioners have alleged that the RIO issued by ZEEL is discriminatory and against the order passed by the tribunal in Noida Software Technology Park Ltd (NSTPL) vs Star India/ZEEL matter. They also alleged that the broadcaster has entered into deals with several MSOs between the passing of the judgment by the tribunal in the NSTPL case on 7 December 2015 and the issuance of its RIO on 11 May. The tribunal had directed the broadcaster on 24 May to file in a sealed cover a list of all the interconnection agreements for the said period.

: http://www.televisionpost.com/trai-tdsat/tdsats-observations-on-zeels-rio-in-light-of-msos-petition/ | TelevisionPost.com
 
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