In With the intention of dismantling walls between different types of communication services, the government of India is planning a radical overhaul of the telecom sector. According to sources a 'unified licence' regime is under development. The new telecom policy could allow operators to offer all forms of communication services under a single permit. Under the present system, telecom firms need separate licences for each type of service.
The new government policy will delink spectrum from the licence. This will make it possible for different types of licences to migrate to a unified End User Service Provider (ESP) permit under which operators will be allowed to offer voice, data and broadcast services. As the unified license will be spectrum neutral, there will be no need for guidelines from the government to specify the services for which the airwaves must be used.
The minister for telecom, Kapil Sibal, has been quoted in the media saying, You must be allowed to do TV, radio, telephony, 2G, 3Gand BWA - basically offer any service you want. It should be up to the company to put the spectrum to any use.
With such spectrum-neutral permit in place, the big gainers could be the firms that are currently limited by licence conditions to offer data services only, even though technology allows them to also offer more lucrative voice services. The biggest beneficiaries could be the winners of last years broadband wireless spectrum services (BWA) auction.
Mukesh Ambanis RIL could make a strong comeback into the telecom sector once the new policy is in place. It could become a full-fledged telecom services company offering 4G data services, as well as voice services. Last year RIL had spent 4,800 crore for acquiring a 95% stake in Infotel Broadband Services, which was the only company to win a pan-India licence. Other owners of the BWA spectrum in India include names like Qualcomm, Tikona Digital Networks, Bharti Airtel and Aircel.
As of now none of the BWA winners have launched commercial services and are awaiting the new telecom policy. RIL is expected to start its services from October this year.
Add new comment