The Hindu Business Line : More goodies on the way...

... if the spirit of giving that is in the air now is sustained in the new year. The Department of Telecommunications is in the process of drafting a brand new telecom policy that promises more innovative services, exciting choices and, of course, lower tariffs, for you and me. If the proposals become reality, there's no stopping the consumer's party.

IF the policy makers in the Communication Ministry were book writers they could probably match up to the magic created by R.K. Rowling's Harry Potter series.

Whatever goodies you got from the telecom sector in the last few years is just the tip of a big iceberg that is soon going to melt and flood consumers in the world's fastest growing market with more innovative services, exciting choices and, of course, lower tariffs that's beyond imagination.

For, the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) is in the process of drafting out a brand new telecom policy that promises to add on to the consumer's party.

Not that the existing New Telecom Policy 1999 has run out of steam, it is just that the objectives laid out six years ago have mostly been met and of course the huge changes in technology have overtaken a policy that was drafted when cellular tariffs were still Rs 16 a minute.

A regime of choice

Explains a senior DoT official "There are new emerging opportunities and challenges for maintaining the momentum of telecom growth, there is a need and demand for speedier and deeper penetration in rural areas and cater to demands for value-added services. It is necessary to sharpen the strategy in tune with the changing global scenario."

So let us take a look at what the new telecom policy may bring in for you and me.

First, it will usher in a regime of choice. At the moment, it is the operators who decide on most things, be it tariff or quality or the services that they provide. The new policy will give you the controls of what services you want from which operator.

For instance, the draft policy talks about bringing number portability, which will allow you to change the telephone operator without having to change your phone number.

So if you feel that your existing operator is not giving you value for money, you can dump him and move to the next without having to fear about informing all your relatives and friends about a change in your phone number. Number portability will also allow you to shift residence or even move from one State to another State without giving up on your telephone number.

A recent study showed that more than 45 per cent of Indian cell-phone users would have changed the operator if number portability had been introduced.

The operators, who have been developing cold feet over introducing this system, fearing a huge churn in their subscriber base, don't have too much of a choice because the draft new policy says that number portability will be introduced within 12 months from the day the policy is made official. This will force operators to improve the quality of services, something that even the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has not been able to enforce despite repeated orders.

CAC, Net telephony

The policy also talks about introducing the much-awaited carrier access codes (CAC), which will give users the freedom to choose the long-distance operator depending on the quality and tariff. At present, this choice is being made by your fixed line or cellular operator and is thrust upon you irrespective of where you are calling or the time you call.

Once CAC is introduced, users may get route-specific tariff. So calling Chennai through Bharti's long-distance network may be cheaper than BSNL's network but calling the hinterlands of Bihar may be cheaper on BSNL's STD network than on any other private operator's.

Though CAC has been talked about for a few years now, the draft policy makes it binding on all access providers (fixed and cellular operators) to implement CAC within a year's time.

Add to this the recent announcement on bringing down the entry fee and easing the rollout norms for long-distance operators, which will attract a number of new players in the segment, largely dominated by BSNL. Companies such as Idea Cellular, Hutch and PowerGrid have already announced plans to foray into the long-distance segment.

"More competition means lower tariff. The other interesting thing is the introduction of Internet telephony for making STD calls. This will also add to the choice for the consumers," says a long distance player.

Internet telephony will allow users to make STD calls at local call rates using the Internet network. Though the quality of voice may be suspect, Internet telephony provides a cheaper alternative to that manual labourer in Delhi to get connected with his family in a far-off village.

And in order to bring in more rural users and semi-urban cities to the party, the policy talks of providing incentives for bringing telecom services to the masses in our villages. One such proposal is to promote local content.

While about two-thirds of the Internet traffic within countries such as China, Japan and Korea is local, in India, it has been largely the English-speaking minority who have been able to take advantage of technology.

"While proficiency in English has been a ticket to India's quick entry into the international market for software and IT services, its dominant usage in the ICT (information and communication technology) sector has kept out a large section of our people from reaping the benefits. The new policy will not only address issues related to local language but also local content and local hosting," says a DoT official.

Broadband over power line

There are a host of other measures suggested in the draft policy to make rural telephony more attractive, including giving tax breaks and financial sops in the form of zero licence fee to operators.

One of the interesting suggestions is to offer high-speed Internet over power lines. Popularly known as Broadband over Power Line (BPL), it allows Internet data to be transmitted over utility power lines.

To make use of this technology, subscribers use neither phone, cable nor satellite connection. Instead a subscriber installs a modem that plugs into an ordinary wall outlet and pays a subscription fee.

Globally, IT firms such as Google and IBM are pouring money into this technology.

Air your grievances

And if, by any chance, you feel your operator has taken you for a ride and is compromising on the quality of service, the draft policy also proposes to set in place systems and institutions to address consumer grievances.

One such institution will be the office of the Ombudsman specifically set up to address consumer-related issues. At present, there is only the highly short-staffed TRAI and consumer courts where consumers can appeal in case of being cheated.

While TRAI is already burdened with complex policy-related issues such as interconnection and access deficit charge, the latter is dealing with thousands of cases from consumers of other sectors.

"The Government will set up a mechanism that comes out with periodic advisories and information on issues of consumer interest.

For instance, tariff guidelines will be provided so that customers have a choice of services at affordable prices.

This will ensure that the consumer gets a true and clear picture of options to address his needs and will also ensure that the industry is not adversely impacted by any misinformation that might be spread in the market," says a DoT official.

So when will all this happen? The policy is expected to take its final shape early next year. Each of these measures has a number of issues around it that would have to be resolved convincingly.

For instance, operators are not too keen to bring in CAC because it involves investing money in enhancing the capabilities of the telephone exchange so that it can recognise the codes assigned for a particular STD service provider. Or even in the case of Internet over power line, experts feel that the technology needs to be standardised, especially in India where the power infrastructure is poor. Whether the policy makers choose to follow Harry Potter in being yet another well-written fiction or whether the magic will become real, we will have to wait and see.

tkt@thehindu.co.in

Picture by Roy Chowdhury

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