The Hindu Business Line : TRAI wants BSNL to share infrastructure

The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India has suggested that Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd should allow its interconnect infrastructure to be used by other telecom operators. This will go a long way in augmenting the number of telephone connections in the country from 150 million at present to the targeted 500 million in 2010.

Interconnect Exchanges

Addressing the members of Bengal National Chamber of Commerce & Industry here on Friday, Mr Nripendra Mishra, Chairman of TRAI, said all States must have interconnect exchanges. "As the mother of all telecom operators in India, it is incumbent upon BSNL to play an important role in this regard. TRAI will interact with BSNL to persuade the latter to provide interconnect to other operators. However, we are not sure if force will work, but persuasion, hopefully, will," he said, and added that BSNL could charge a fee for providing interconnect facilities.

Telecom Infrastructure

Mr Mishra said the sharing of telecom infrastructure as a concept exists worldwide and the imperatives to do so in India need to be recognised. With its national footprint, BSNL must provide facilitation for interconnect to other telecom operators, he said.

According to him, the Association of Unified Telecom Service Providers of India (AUSPI) and Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI) have agreed to jointly appoint an ombudsman for the telecom industry on the lines of the one that exists in the insurance sector. The ombudsman would look into customers' complaints that are "systemic and generic in nature". The proposed ombudsman would be appointed and empowered by AUSPI and COAI within the next six weeks.

Convergence Issue

He said while dispute redressal mechanisms such as TRAI, consumer courts and TDSAT already exist, it was only appropriate for a country like India to have another dispute redressal mechanism in the form of an ombudsman for its fast-growing telecom sector. Mr Mishra said TRAI's recommendations on spectrum for 3G would be sent to the Government "positively by September" this year.

On the contentious issue of convergence, the TRAI Chairman said: "Technology and convergence cannot be stopped. We have to accept it and regulate it in a manner that both broadcasting and telecom co-exist in a complimentary and not confrontationist manner".

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