New Delhi, July 15: The telecom watchdog has recommended separate licensing frameworks for local cable operators and multi-system operators to restructure the cable television industry.

In a set of draft recommendations, the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India today proposed a licence regime for cable operators that would have an entry fee of Rs 10,000-Rs 1 lakh along with an administrative cess. The licence would be valid for five years.

It suggested a separate licensing provision for multi-system operators, saying they should be introduced as an entity distinct from cable TV operators since their operations are different. The main job of MSOs is to aggregate content from different broadcasters and provide it to local cable operators.

The regulator said there was need to streamline the industry, which was facing challenges of technology, resources and fragmented distribution. With cable TV reaching 78 million households at the end of 2007, it was time to acquire advanced transmission technology.

“No person shall operate a cable television network unless he is licensed as a cable operator,” it said in the draft recommendations on Restructuring of Cable TV Sector.

An entry fee of Rs 10,000 has been recommended for a district-level licence and Rs 1 lakh for a state licence. A 10 per cent administrative cess has been proposed to meet the contingency needs of the department of posts to maintain records of cable TV operators.

The regulator said the time had also come to note the fierce competition to conventional cable TV operators from advanced technologies like DTH (direct-to-home), HITS (Head end in the sky) and IPTV (Internet Protocol TV).

The recommendations evoked varied reactions in Calcutta. Mrinal Chatterjee, director of Akash Sutra, which operates in Nagerbazar, Lake Town, Bangur and Baguiati, said: “Cable operators already have to get a Post and Telegraph licence and renew it for Rs 500 every year. We also have to pay a service tax, including cess, of 12.36 per cent and five per cent entertainment tax.

“Trai is welcome to introduce another licence but we would like to be told how exactly they want to restructure the industry, how much they expect to spend on it and if they mean to recover the amount from licence fees.”

Arjun Singh Mehta of Calcutta Amenities (Camac Street) said: “Every imposition of licence fees or cess should have a concurrent benefit. Since we already hold the P&T licence… what is the need for another licence?”