The Hindu : Business : Telecom cos asked to list priority areas to new Govt

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Tuesday, May 19, 2009
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Telecom cos asked to list priority areas to new Govt

DoT would shortly hold a meeting with some of the key players

NEW DELHI: The Department of Telecom (DoT) has asked operators to list out the priority areas, where policies are pending, for placing before the new government as a consensus agenda for the first 100 days.

“A new government is likely to be in place by the later half of May 2009. The government will have to take decisions on a number of matters which are still constraining growth of the telecom sector. I would like to know the issues, which in your opinion, need to be addressed urgently,” Telecom Secretary Siddhharth Behura said in a communication to telecom companies.

He said DoT would shortly hold a meeting with some of the key players to arrive at a common agenda for the first three months of the new government.

The secretary said that though pro-active policies of the government had helped the sector achieve huge success in telecom, there were a number of key issues on which decisions had to be taken to further the progress in the sector.

The telecom industry earlier said it wanted the new government to tackle the issue of multiple levies on the sector on a priority basis.

Uniform licence fee

“The government should make uniform licence fee of 6 per cent across all services to avoid arbitrage opportunities,” said Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI) Director General T. V. Ramachandran.

CDMA operators association AUSPI’s (Association of Unified Telecom Service Providers of India) Secretary General S. C. Khanna echoing the views of COAI on multiplicity of levies also sought reduction in taxes saying present rate of 30 per cent is globally the highest.

3G spectrum

Mr. Ramachandran said the new minister should resolve the 2G spectrum issues immediately adding a committee had submitted recommendation which should be finalised without delay.

COAI’s other priority was that the government should do enough to increase rural connectivity and as part of that it should restore the two per cent reduction in USO levy which has been rejected by the PMO due to some procedural glitch.

COAI wants the 3G spectrum auction to start as early as possible so that private operators start the service soon.

Analysts said now that the Congress-led UPA had returned to power with a clear mandate, the much-needed reforms in this sector should start with a new spectrum policy and listing of government-owned BSNL. — PTI

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