The Information and Broadcasting ministry has asked telecom regulator TRAI to come up with measures to check prevalence of monopolies in the cable TV sector. Speaking to reporters in New Delhi, Information and Broadcasting Minister Manish Tewari said, his ministry has asked TRAI specifically as to how to deal with this issue before going into digitisation between now and 2014.

The minister said that he had asked TRAI to look into monopolies whether they existed at a local, state or regional level and also into other related gamut of issues.

Asked if he was in favour of bringing news broadcasters under the ambit of the Press Council, Mr Tiwari said the government favoured self regulation. He said that in the four metros, 96 per cent digitisation had been achieved and the figure was 97 per cent if DTH households are counted.

The minister said that the West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee is free not to allow Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in the multi-brand retail in her state. He,however, wondered how a 19-member party in the Lok Sabha is trying to bring a no confidence motion against the government . Mr Tiwari said the government is ready for a discussion on any issue in the Winter Session of Parliament beginning Thursday.

I&B secretary Uday Kumar Varma, who was also present, said that in the second phase, the government was trying to find a way to encourage indigenous producers of Set Top Boxes (STBs).