By TIOL News Service

NEW DELHI, AUG 02, 2024: TELECOM Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) today released a Consultation Paper on "Reserve Prices for auction of FM Radio channels".

Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (MIB) vide its reference dated 19th March 2024 had sought TRAI's recommendations on reserve price for auction of FM Radio channels in 18 cities/towns in the states of Himanchal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, and Union Territory (UT) of Jammu & Kashmir for the expansion of Private FM Radio. The MIB has decided to introduce a new category 'E' for these cities. It has proposed that all the technical parameters applicable for category 'D' cities, except for Effective Radiated Power (ERP) may apply to category 'E' cities.

The MIB has proposed the ERP for Category 'E' as 750 Watt to 1 Kilo Watt. The MIB has also requested TRAI to recommend the reserve price the cities of Bilaspur (Chhattisgarh), Rourkela (Odisha) and Rudrapur (Uttarakhand).

Accordingly, this Consultation Paper has been prepared to seek the comments/views of the stakeholders on the determination of reserve prices for auction of FM Radio channels, under FM Phase-III Policy. Written comments on the consultation paper are invited from the stakeholders by 29th August 2024. Counter comments, if any, may be submitted by 12th September 2024. The comments and counter-comments may be sent, preferably in electronic form on the email ID advbcs-2@trai.gov.in and jtadvbcs-1@trai.gov.in.