Petitioner Ravi Nair takes plea to TRAI

Ravi Nair

Weeks after taking his Cable199only campaign to the Mumbai Grahak Panchayat, and subsequently to cable operators, city-based media consultant Ravi Nair appealed to the body he was protesting against, the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI).

Nair, who had in previous mid-day interviews made a case for himself when suggesting that the regulatory body's newly imposed tariffs on TV viewing were not viable, has written to the TRAI stating that his pledge had found the support of 9,875 operators. Addressed to TRAI general secretary SK Gupta, his letter stated: "This is to bring to your kind notice that the cable operators are in full support for blacking out all paid channels which charge more than Rs 2.50 each, in the next few days."

He reiterated his previous suggestion that viewers be allowed to pay for the channels that they wish to consume, instead of choose from a predefined list of 100 Free To Air channels. "We are willing to pay R2.50 or Rs 3 for each channel," he says, banking on the assumption that an average viewer would consume no more than 60 channels, and would hence shell out no more than R180 for a personalised subscription. With his Cablefor199 plan, he hence suggests that he proposes a fair scheme.

Should their appeal fall on deaf ears, Nair says operators will "scroll messages about the date and time of a blackout on TV sets soon." "I would like TRAI and the consumers to call for a press conference and reach a settlement."

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