The Hindu Business Line : Stage set for telecom policy initiatives

New Delhi, July 31 The Communications and IT Minister, Mr A. Raja, is expected to announce major policy initiatives for the telecom sector on Friday including guidelines for third generation mobile, pricing for excess spectrum for existing mobile operators, introduction of mobile number portability, new schemes under the Universal Services Obligation and a policy for rolling out wireless broadband services using technologies.

These policy measures, in the making for more than a year, will bring far reaching changes to the telecom sector. The biggest gainers will be consumers who can expect high speed data connectivity on mobile devices, better quality of services, superior connectivity in rural areas and interesting value-added services. The policy to utilise Universal Services Obligation fund, will be aimed at bringing communications services to the rural areas.

The fund, which has Rs 15,000 crore, is expected to be used to provide financial incentives to operators which roll out services in villages.One such project being considered is to set up a cellular network across the country using around 11,000 base stations. Mr Raja is expected to spell out the various schemes being planned by the USO fund.
The Minister will also announce the policy for launching 3G mobile services and broadband wireless which will usher in a whole new set of facilities for users. The Government is likely to permit new and foreign players to participate in the 3G auction after paying an upfront fee. Mr Raja may also announce the controversial new pricing formula for 2G spectrum in a bid to rake in more revenues for the Government and also ensure efficient utilisation of the scarce resource. The industry is split over this issue with the GSM operators opposing any additional levy while the CDMA players are for it.

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