Financial Daily from THE HINDU group of publications
Wednesday, Jun 14, 2006
Financial Daily from THE HINDU group of publications Wednesday, Jun 14, 2006 |
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Telecommunications Info-Tech - Policy Govt favours 3G entry fee Our Bureau
THE 2-BILLION MILESTONE: (From left) Mr Rob Conway, CEO, GSM Association; Mr Sunil Bharti Mittal, Chairman & Group MD, Bharti Enterprises and Board Member, GSM Association; Mr Dayanidhi Maran, Minister for IT and Communications; and Mr Craig Ehrlich, Chairman, GSM Association, at a press conference in the Capital on Tuesday. - Ramesh Sharma
New Delhi , June 13 The Union Communication and IT Minister, Mr Dayanidhi Maran, on Tuesday said that the Government was in favour of putting an entry fee for third generation (3G) services. This comes a day after the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India issued a consultation paper to discuss the pricing and allocation of 3G spectrum. Speaking at the sidelines of the GSM Association's conference to announce 2 billion mobile phones worldwide, Mr Maran said that spectrum was a scarce resource and the Government has to make some money out of it. "We want to make it very competitive and we do not want operators to sit over spectrum without using it. The Government will take a decision after TRAI comes out with its recommendations," he said. The Finance Ministry is also in favour of such a move, though the operators are against it. Mr Sunil Mittal, Chairman and Managing Director, Bharti Group, said, "To make 3G services affordable, there should be no separate entry fee for 3G. An entry price of any kind is also amortised over a period of time of the licence. That's a levy the customer does not need. India must seamlessly migrate to 3G as Bangladesh and Pakistan have done, without any entry ticket."
Global roaming rates
Mr Maran also urged the GSM Association to impress upon operators across the world to bring down international roaming rates. A mobile user spends Rs 100 a minute on an average for making a call while roaming overseas. The Minister also cautioned Indian operators to carry out subscriber verification as per the process laid out before giving out a connection. The GSM Association, which has over 700 operators as members, held its board meeting in India for the first time.
Two billion GSM base
The association also announced reaching two billion GSM-based mobile subscribers across the world. India has about 80 million GSM mobile users. Earlier during the conference Mr Craig Ehrlich, Chairman, GSM Association, said, "This is the fastest growth of technology ever witnessed. While it took just 12 years for the industry to reach the first billion connections, the second billion has been achieved in just two-and-a-half years boosted by the phenomenal take-up of mobile in emerging markets such as India and China."
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