The Hindu : End licence raj: TRAI

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, Oct 28, 2003

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End licence raj: TRAI

By Sandeep Dikshit

NEW DELHI OCT. 27. The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) today recommended an end to the licence raj in the telecom sector. It suggested automatic licensing for all telecom services and merger of basic and cellular licences. Basic companies will qualify for the unified licences after payment of additional entry fee, which in Reliance's case has been estimated at Rs. 1,500 crores. The step will end the litigation between services and technologies and ensure availability of the best technology to the consumer, says the TRAI Chairman, Pradip Baijal.

In the near future, WLL(M) subscribers will be able to get full roaming facilities, provided Reliance, Tatas and Bharti paid additional fees to the Government. It remains to be seen whether these companies will pass on the cost to the subscriber. A meeting of the Group of Ministers on Telecom (GoM-T) is scheduled to examine the recommendations on October 30.

The TRAI also released its recommendations to end the ongoing war between limited mobility (WLL-M) and cellular companies. The salient feature is the additional entry fee imposed on WLL(M) companies in some circles. The brunt will be borne by Reliance, Tatas and Bharti. This step would "level the playing field" for cellular companies vis-à-vis basic companies offering WLL(M) services. Reliance has been asked to pay Rs. 221.04 crores and Tatas and Bharti Rs. 129.13 crores each.

The additional entry fee is being recommended only for Delhi, Tamil Nadu (including Chennai), Karnataka, West Bengal (including Kolkata) and Maharashtra (including Mumbai).

Reliance to pay penalty

The TRAI has left the issue of paying entry fees twice — once for a level playing field and a second time for unified licence — open. Senior TRAI officers said they would prefer the Government to take a decision on the issue after it finalised the process to be followed.

Apart from being asked to pay additional entry fee, Reliance has come in for special attention for providing WLL(M) services almost like unlimited mobility services by using techniques such as multiple registration and call forwarding. In order to obtain a unified licence, Reliance will have to pay penalty in addition to the additional entry fee.

The TRAI chief said the recommendations took into account technological developments, the extended scope of service due to the induction of new technologies, the falling cost of wireless services and the international trend for non-service specific licences through converged licences.

In a statement, Reliance said it welcomed the recommendations.

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