Comments
A committee set up by the Department of Telecom has picked holes in the telecom regulator's proposals to introduce unified licensing regime.
The panel has said that the three levels of licensing as suggested by the TRAI may be difficult to implement under the new regime.
Three levels
The telecom regulator had recommended three types of unified licence – National, Circle and District levels. But the DoT panel has taken a view that even for National level licences, the administration will be done at the circle level. This means operators that take a pan-India single unified licence will still have to meet roll-out obligations and other commitments such as maintaining separate accounts for each circle.
On the issue of introducing district level licensing, the panel said the Telecom Commission had rejected a similar proposal earlier. It said that this could be looked at after the introduction of Mobile Virtual Network Operators.
“Three levels of licences shall also pose challenges for implementing merger and acquisition guidelines,” the panel said in its report to the Telecom Commission.
The report was considered by the Commission at its meeting on Monday.
FDI cap for tower cos
On lowering the FDI cap for tower companies from 100 per cent to 74 per cent, the panel said the TRAI should reconsider its views because it will adversely impact investments in infrastructure. The committee also observed that the Government has already deferred bringing tower companies under licensing regime.
The regulator had proposed bringing tower firms under a licensing system whereby they would have to pay revenue share to the Government. The DoT panel's views would bring cheer to the tower companies that are opposing TRAI on grounds that it would increase their costs.
The DoT panel has also not agreed to TRAI's suggestion of giving it the powers to issue licences. The panel said that DoT should continue to be the licensor. The suggestion to lower the required networth to be eligible for licences has also not been agreed to. The panel has taken a view that companies, which apply for telecom licences, should have financial strength to sustain business over a long term. While the existing rules specify a networth ranging between Rs 30 crore and Rs 100 crore, TRAI wants it to be reduced between Rs 25 lakh and Rs 25 crore.
Eligibility criteria
The committee said that there could be a system wherein the eligibility criteria is based on the type of service offered by the operator. The panel has given a similar view on the proposal to charge lower entry fee.
The panel's views, along with those of TRAI, will be considered by the Telecom Commission, before formulating policy.
Comments
COMMENT NOW
Comments
Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.
We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of TheHindu Businessline and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.