2008: Expected Milestones To Be Achieved By This Year End

[Arun 795]

The Financial Express

March 17, 2008

The year 2008 would be one when the telecom sector would see a lot of action and a recharge that could take the fast-paced growth to another level. The telecom ministry has lined up an action plan, which includes the auctioning of 3G licences and number portability. According to Siddhartha Behura, telecom secretary and chairman of the Telecom Commission, the year-end could well see both these milestones met.

The broad-based guidelines issued by the ministry would be finalised and a detailed version of the guidelines will be made available by the end of the month, said Behura. For this, the ministry and the commission will not employ internal experts, but would rather have external experts. This time, Behura added, the 3G guidelines would be accompanied by directions on Wi-max as well. “We will then have a beauty parade of the candidates wanting to offer 3G services,” quipped Behura. And by November or December-end, the services could be in place, he added.

As regards to another landmark implementation, number portability, which will allow mobile users to change their cellphone service provider and still maintain the current number, things are afoot at a rapid clip. Right now, the Trai is working out the details, which will be expected by the end of the month, said Behura. And after other practical deliberations, and testing, number portability could be reality by the end of the year, Behura asserted.

Answering queries posed by institutional investors and the media at the India-Asia Investment Forum in Singapore, Behura clarified that he was in a dialogue with the concerned authorities in the defence services to work around the spectrum release issue. “There is a lack of clarity in this areas and the dialogue is expected to resolve this,” said Behura. He pointed out that spectrum issues varied from area to area. This is because the defence had different spectrum requirements in different geographies. Hence, it becomes difficult to generalise the spectrum needs, added Behura.

On the matter of the recent Blackberry issue, Behura again clarified that there is an intense dialogue on with the defence sector and also Blackberry. And that the ministry and policy makers are committed to work around security concerns and organisational requirements to build a solution for this popular service.

The secretary also mentioned the need for players to look beyond the spectrum issues and look towards investing in innovative technologies for expansion as well. He also pointed towards the possibility of strong consolidation in the sector that could lead to only five odd players being able to live out competitive forces in the sector.