US media regulator to address TV summit in Mumbai

Mumbai: Kathleen Q Abernathy, commissioner of the US media and telecom regulatory body, the Federal Communications Commission, will be a keynote speaker at the first India Television Summit to be held in Mumbai on September 29, 2005.

As FCC Commissioner, Abernathy is responsible for representing the public interest in each of the policy areas under FCC's jurisdiction. These responsibilities include regulation of broadcast television, cable, satellite, domestic and international telecommunications, wireless telephony, consumer protection and education and general enforcement of the commission rules

Abernathy will express her views on the regulatory framework for convergence and competition at the summit. She will also participate in the discussion on regulatory issues in the television industry along with S K Arora, secretary, ministry of information and broadcasting and Pradeep Baijal, chairman, TRAI.

The event has been endorsed by the ministry of information and broadcasting, and will provide a forum for industry executives and government agencies to discuss the commercial and regulatory factors shaping the future of the Rs132-billion (US$3 billion) television industry in India.

Participants include heads of broadcasting firms like Star, CNBC, Sony, Dish TV, Reliance Infocomm, Tata Sky, Turner Entertainment, investment bankers like CLSA, DSP Merrill Lynch, TMT investment, and government officials

The Indian television industry is poised for a leap in the months ahead with a regulatory framework being developed to regulate uplinking, down linking, content regulation, digitisation and the expected take-off of DTH as evidenced by the gradual success of Dish TV and the impending launch of Tata-Sky.