330 pvt FM radio stations to go air soon
Thursday, 30 June , 2005, 16:13
New Delhi: The government today unveiled a new policy aimed at
''ushering in
a radio revolution'' that will see 330 private FM radio stations spring
up
in 90 cities across the country with 20 per cent foreign investment,
including FDI. Today in Sify Finance
The FM radio stations will, however, primarily be
entertainment-oriented as
these will not be allowed to air any current affairs news content.
The new policy for the second phase of FM radio in the private sector
was
approved at a Cabinet meeting chaired by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh,
Information and Broadcasting Minister S Jaipal Reddy told reporters.
Under the policy, the new FM radio stations would have to pay a
one-time
entry fee (OTF) that would be decided through a closed bidding process
and
each successful bidder would pay according to his bid amount. In
addition,
they will have to part with four per cent of their annual revenue as
license
fee.
The existing operators, who number a mere 21, would have to pay the
average
one-time entry fee paid by the successful bidders.
The bidding process would start in about a month.
To prevent monopoly, no operator would be allowed to run more than one
station in the four metros and other major cities. Nor can they have
networking of their stations in major cities. Further, no company would
be
allowed to run more than 15 per cent of the proposed stations. Telecom
regulator, TRAI, had recommended 25 per cent, but the Cabinet reduced
it to
15 per cent, Reddy said. BPO data security
The new policy was aimed at expansion of such channels, rather than
ensuring
revenue for the government, the Minister said.
The first phase policy, announced in July 1999, had a lot of emphasis
on
revenue, instead of growth. ''That experiment failed. We have,
therefore,
decided to accept the recommendations of the Amit Mitra committee and
TRAI
in favour of revenue sharing formula,'' Reddy said.
http://sify.com/finance/fullstory.php?id=13885406
Alokesh Gupta
New Delhi
