The Telecom Minister, Mr Kapil Sibal, is likely to meet industry players next week in order to reach a consensus on issues, including licensing, spectrum allocation, spectrum sharing and mergers and acquisition.
“The Minister will meet the telecom industry players next week on March 8 in order to hold consultations to evolve a “clear and transparent” regime covering licensing, spectrum allocation, tariffs/pricing, linkage with roll-out performance, spectrum sharing, trading and, mergers and acquisition,” a source in the know said.
The meeting is part of Mr Sibal’s efforts to achieve the 100-day plan for reforms in the telecom sector in consultation with the industry.
Executives from telecom companies like Bharti Airtel, Vodafone and Reliance Communications are likely to be part of the meeting, the source added.
In January, Mr Sibal had announced the formulation of a new and comprehensive National Telecom Policy 2011.
The Minister will also discuss a series of proposals on spectrum such as its pricing, capping the amount of airwaves a telco can hold, methodology for awarding additional spectrum and reworking the usage fee for this resource. Sharing of spectrum and reframing of this resource is another prominent item on the agenda.
Further, other proposals involve initiating discussions on renewal of mobile permits and replacing the rollout obligations with a new methodology to measure if companies are extending their networks.