The Manufacturers’ Association for Information Technology (MAIT), LG Electronics India Limited, and Tata Communications Pvt Ltd have submitted responses to the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India’s (TRAI) consultation paper on Application-based Linear Television Distribution (ALTD) and Free Ad-Supported Streaming Television (FAST) services. They have requested that smart TV manufacturers and operating system providers be excluded from the scope of any future regulatory framework, emphasizing their role as hardware and software providers rather than content controllers, according to medianama.com.
In their submissions, LG and MAIT argued that the regulatory focus should be on entities that actively curate, control, and distribute linear television content. LG stated that ALTD services should be limited to those who have editorial control over content, not device manufacturers. Tata Communications Limited also distinguished between original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) and application providers, suggesting that authorisation responsibility should lie with entities controlling channel aggregation and consumer-facing services rather than upstream technology providers, as detailed by medianama.com.
This stance highlights the industry's view that smart TV makers function primarily as infrastructure providers, not broadcasters or content distributors. The distinction is significant amid ongoing regulatory efforts to govern streaming services in India, where content curation and monetisation are central to regulatory oversight. The submissions reflect concerns that including device manufacturers could impose undue regulatory burdens unrelated to content control, a key factor in TRAI’s consultation process, according to medianama.com.
TRAI’s consultation on ALTD and FAST services continues to shape the regulatory landscape for streaming in India. The submissions from MAIT, LG, and Tata Communications contribute to the discourse on defining regulatory boundaries, with the next phase expected to clarify which entities will be subject to authorisation and compliance requirements, as per medianama.com.