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Private FM radio
operation in Delhi, Kolkata and Chennai is facing a roadblock as
negotiations with the French transmission infrastructure company
TDF have failed, placing the August 29 deadline at risk. This is
despite TDF and the FM licencees negotiating at length over at least
20 sessions and nearly signing the deal.
Now the ball
is in the government’s court in that it has to take a view
on whether FM operators should be given more time or not in paying
the licence fee. Also, the government has to decide on whether or
not to allow the private operators to go for individual interim
arrangements, as was permitted in Mumbai, before they set up permanent
operations in the common towers in each of these three metros.
Although TDF’s
Indian subsidiary Mediacast was given a letter of intent by private
FM licencees for integrating their operations in Delhi, Kolkata
and Chennai, Mediacast decided to pull out of the project as it
was getting increasingly tough to arrive at a consensus. It is being
said that a couple of FM players being backed by a competing infrastructure
company are behind this upset. Among other things, last-minute requests
made by FM players including those on lock-in period, termination
options and free transmission prompted TDF’s subsidiary to
opt out of the project. “Too many glitches were created by
some FM players,” a source said.
With the deadline
of August 29 drawing close, the recent developments are being seen
as a major setback for the private radio operation in the metros,
barring Mumbai. With TDF’s subsidiary not interested in the
project any longer and the deadline for the private players to set
up the operations and pay the licence fee so near, the FM operators
want an interim set-up now.
A senior government
official confirmed that some FM players have written to the ministry
of information and broadcasting with the request that they be granted
permission to go for individual interim arrangements. As a representative
of one of the private FM radio companies pointed out, there’s
no time left to appoint another integrator for setting up facilities
in the common tower. It may be recalled that All India Radio has
offered its towers in the three metros to co-locate the private
transmitters. The only solution, according to an official in a private
FM company, is to set up separate interim arrangements as fast as
possible.
But government
officials argue that there’s no case for granting private players
permission for interim set-up. Earlier, private licencees in the
three metros signed a contract with the government to the effect
that they would pay up the licence fee by August 29, 2002. ‘‘If
they invest once in the interim set-up, they may turn reluctant
to go for a permanent arrangement at a later stage,’’
a government official said.
However, the
government has not taken any decision on this yet. A decision will
be taken only after all issues are discussed with the private players,
an official said. But, if the govt agrees to their proposal, each
FM operator in Delhi, Kolkata and Chennai would have separate set-ups,
instead of a common tower as envisaged by the government.
As AIR Mumbai did not have the capacity to allow such a co-location
of transmitters, private FM players in this city were allowed to
go in for an interim arrangement. l
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