Summer Trainees At TRAI

[kesav 127]

TRAI invites Graduate/Post Graduate students from select institutes to be part of their summer training program.

It's a great opportunity for the students to get involved with one of the world's best telecom regulators.

All the institutes in the list are from Delhi except one from Pune and another from Bhopal.

http://www.trai.gov.in/Summer_Training.pdf

Please spread the word so that your relatives/friends can make use of golden opportunity.

[raccoon 53]

"World's best telecom regulator"?

[KanagaDeepan 1,084]

Ok... Let us call it as India's best Telecom Regulator (Becoz, No other choice)...

[kesav 127]

Parking our frustrations for a moment, TRAI is the benchmark regulator in India for other regulators like SEBI, RBI, IRDA etc.,

TRAI has also carved a niche in the global telecom regulatory space which all the telecom regulators in the world are trying to emulate.

The key factors which have attracted the global telecom regulators towards TRAI are

(1) Soft touch regulation in tariff

(2) Technology neutral approach

(3) Pro-competitive directions

(4) Vast and wider consultation process

Success of the TRAI lies in its forward march even when DoT tried to pull in opposite direction with its inefficiencies and corruption.

TRAI would have taken Indian telecom space to the much higher level if not for DoT's irregularities.

The clear testimony to the success of TRAI lies in the criticism vented out by telecom players like Airtel, Vodafone,Idea, RCOM, TATA and so on......

A regulator is successful only when the incumbents feel the heat continuously.

[ravi_patent 28]

DOT's biggest irregularity is it decides who should head TRAI.

if criticism is the yardstick IRDA leaves TRAI way behind.the insures find it more hard now to trick customers bcos of IRDA.

see this http://www.business-standard.com/india/news/newsmaker-j-hari-narayan/392020/

Edited April 19, 2011 by ravi_patent

[kesav 127]

TRAI chairman is selected by Appointment Committee of Cabinet.

Its members are Prime Minister, Home Minister & Telecom Minister.

At the max, DoT can only influence through its minister....

[rajanmehta 4,056]

The real issue is not about appointment. Even RBI Governor is appointed by the Government. That has not resulted in it's powers/efficiency being curbed in any manner.

Actual issue is how much Independent Authority the legislation governing a Regulator gives to it. That decides the actual effectiveness/un-effectiveness of the Regulator.

All governments professing liberalization has actually not been very enthusiastic in letting go most of their discretionary powers...

Telecom Regulator is less effective because most of the crucial Powers have been kept in DOT's domain.

Had it been otherwise, the same body with the same head would be a different entity altogether..

And that's one reason why recently people across India reacted so strongly to the government's vision of Lokpal bill... They could see through the game of creating another toothless tiger on paper..

[ravi_patent 28]

kesav

can anyone who is not at the pleasure of Telecom Minister become TRAI chief.see this

http://www.business-standard.com/india/news/sunil-jain-can-manmohan-ditch-raja/374249/.

a simple solution could have been to exclude Telecom Minister from the Appointment Committee of Cabinet

[kesav 127]

The author of the above article is too much fictional in his article and need not be taken seriously....The article is too much away from truth....

For God sake, just don't believe in what media says....They're the most corrupt lot in our democracy........Please apply your thoughts over it.....

Your suggestion to keep Telecom Minister away from Appointments committee is also not possible since among the ministers in the committee, Telecom Minister can only be the one who has more visibility on the talent availability in the telecom domain.

Actually what @Rajan said is exactly true...

The need of the hour is to shift much more powers to TRAI and make it as a strong regulator for Telecom & Broadcasting domains.

Till today, TRAI does not have powers similar to other regulators like RBI,SEBI & IRDA.....

It'll solve misgivings about TRAI.

[digitalnirvana 646]

Even if TRAI is given power it will not work sorry being cynical. In UK there is regulatory authority called OfCom formerly OfTel Google for details. In the UK most of copper fibre network is maintained by BT. They broke BT's monopoly by forcing to provide service to other SPs like Vodafone, Orange, Tiscali, O2 and allowed newer operators to come up. They ensure level playing field and are strictly pro competition. Do you ever see that happening in India? In India the max TRAI or DOT will do is to send showcause notice and nothing more. The Indian regulatory authorities are not mature enough to break monopoly. In every market be it telecom, infra, power you will see cartel or lobby here. That needs to be broken before regulatory authorities can have any effect.

[kesav 127]

My dear friend, please allow me to clarify and bring out the true picture.....

Europe is a failed case of Telecom Regulatory mechanism.

The first huge mistake their regulators done is not being technology-neutral and the second thing being their total failure to infuse competition.

TRAI beats any of the European Telecom regulators hands down in any of the parameters other than technology advancements. Technology advancement failure is mainly due to spectrum scarcity.

OfCom's initiative to break monopoly of BT telecom is totally reactionary on seeing the competitive telecom markets in developing countries and certainly not pro-active.

On Contrary, TRAI has never ever allowed competition to fall in our country in spite of many bigwigs trying their best to thwart competition by influencing corrupt ridden bureaucracy.

Best telecom regulators of the world reside in the east of our country and not in west.

Japan's telecom regulator, the best in terms of technology advancements has acknowledged the TRAI's success in keeping competition at its best and even tried to learn from TRAI.

Please try to shake away the attitude of "west being the best" and have heart to appreciate tiny successes which we've achieved here and there.

Despite all cynicism around our telecom industry, India is the best competitive and fast growing telecom market in the world. The most of the credit must go to TRAI.

This in turn calls for vesting more powers with TRAI.

Edited April 19, 2011 by kesav

[digitalnirvana 646]

Dear Kesav, I beg to differ on all counts.

Sure Europe is single technology but that is not a failure. They pushed their homegrown UMTS technology as Japan and US pushed CDMA. Like US pushes Boeing and Europe Airbus. This is not at all any failure. Even China is pushing TD LTE as it is homegrown. India has not developed anything so we are a mix bag. But India is not technology neutral. GSM has got preference in spectrum allocation. So cannot say TRAI has made Indian telecom technology neutral at all.

Ofcom's move was not reactionary at all, when the move was made teledensity in India and Brazil was much low. Why would Ofcom ape emerging markets? The regulations in place in UK are way better than most markets. As I work in the telecom sector so rest assured I know what I am saying cannot say any more here without divulging my job. You say TRAI has fostered competion. Really? Show me an example where BSNL and MTNL have been forced to give their network to MVNOs.

I am not saying west is best, you misunderstood me. I am only saying India's lobby and cartel ridden telecom market needs a shakeup and that shakeup cannot be done by a regulatory authority. TRAI will remain toothless because it was designed to be toothless. The political fiefdoms in this country control everything and unless some sort of drastic change happens in the way cartels are allowed to flourish, TRAI cannot do anything.

I am not cynical about everything but I find this effusive praise of TRAI misplaced hence my comments. Nothing personal so no hard feelings please.

Edited April 19, 2011 by dipanlahiri

[kesav 127]

If you ever had a chance to speak with an European common man who have visited & used mobile services in India, Brazil, Russia, Malaysia or Indonesia you would have really understood what a telecom regulatory mess it is in Europe.

There are several points which I can keep quoting on to say how bad an European feels about his operators' loot due to efficient in enforcement but fundamentally wrong regulations(like non-technology neutral approach, autocratic decision-making, restriction in number of players etc.,).

There are more than enough instances where stakeholders(mainly NGOs and Experts) have rejected European type regulations during consultation process of TRAI.

TRAI has achieved much more greater competition even without MVNO than OfCom achieved with MVNO. What do you need ????

For the benefit of stopping this going off-topic, I want to restrict by saying never ever bring European regulatory regime in comparison since it's globally accepted failed regulatory mechanism.

Your penultimate paragraph exactly says what myself and @Rajan have been insisting in our previous posts. The need of the hour is to empower/redesign TRAI with more powers and take it to the level of other regulators in India. It'll clearly catapult telecom industry to next level since TRAI has already proved what it can do with even such less powers.

Edited April 19, 2011 by kesav

[digitalnirvana 646]

^

Right let us not go off topic anymore, I respect your views about the UK telecom situation (no idea about Europe) but do not agree with them but that is what debate is all about.

We all agree TRAI needs more powers. But what TRAI and every regulatory authority needs more is to be unshackled from the political bureaucracy in order to fully utilize those powers. Else the situation would remain stagnant.

[kesav 127]

I profusely second your last paragraph.....

[kesav 127]

In a heart-warming news to members of our beloved forum, Trai may get more powers, to function as civil court

NEW DELHI/KOLKATA: The communications ministry plans to grant more powers to the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) that will enable the watchdog to act like a civil court.

The move will bring Trai on a par with the Securities and Exchange Board of India and the Competition Commission of India and allow it to "summon persons, examine them on oath, demand documents and evidence on affidavits and, in appropriate cases, call for expert assistance in conducting inquiries", the Department of Telecom (DoT) said in an internal note reviewed by ET.

DoT has sought legal advice on the issue.

This is the first time Trai has received a favourable response from the ministry on its demand for more teeth. Its similar requests were earlier spurned by former telecom ministers A Raja and Dayanidhi Maran.

The telecom department has also accepted Trai's demand for power to deal with telemarketers, although it is silent on the details.

Existing rules on curbing spam SMSes and pesky calls on mobiles have largely come unstuck as both the regulator and the department were involved in a jurisdiction battle.

DoT had opposed Trai's mandate that all telemarketers register with it. It also did not allow Trai to impose financial penalties on erring telemarketers.

Currently, Trai can only file a case before a metropolitan magistrate to impose fine on a telemarketer who violates the norms.

DoT has also agreed to amend the Trai Act, demarcating the powers of the regulator and that of the telecom tribunal.

While some have welcomed the proposal, many in the industry have questioned its rationale.

Giving Trai the powers of a civil court will be an infringement on the telecom tribunal's role, said Rajan Matthews, director general of the Cellular Operators Association of India, the industry body representing GSM operators.

But telecom analyst and Com First India director Mahesh Uppal is in favour of more legal muscle for Trai.

"At present, Trai's hands are tied as it does not have the legal teeth to compel a telco to furnish information or data that may be critical for discharging its functions," said Uppal.

DoT, however, is non-committal on several other demands raised by Trai.

For instance, it said it would seek an internal consensus on Trai's long-pending demand for more powers to resolve connectivity disputes between mobile phone companies.

It has also not cleared Trai's request for powers to penalise operators for 'non-compliance of the terms and conditions of their licence'.

source :: http://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com/2011-05-17/news/29552144_1_telemarketers-trai-act-telecom

I salute Kapil Sibal for this little but very important progress on this vital issue...

:clap:

Let us hope and pray that things move faster and TRAI becomes true autonomous regulator on the lines of RBI,SEBI,CCI.

As expected, cartel's spokesperson COAI has started using its negative influences in the system to derail the process as seen in the Rajan Matthews statement above.......

God save India from these nefarious obnoxious corporates....

Edited May 28, 2011 by kesav