All security issues linked to 3G video calls will soon be resolved, Union Communications and Information Technology Minister Kapil Sibal assured mobile operators on Thursday.
“There are security concerns regarding 3G video calls, which we are looking into… It will be resolved as soon as possible,” Mr. Sibal told journalists here.
After the Tata Teleservices and Reliance Communications started the 3G service (including video chat) a few days ago, the Home Ministry wanted the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) to ask them to stop video calls till the law enforcement agencies could intercept/monitor them.
Subsequently, DoT and Home Ministry officials held a meeting. Thereafter, the private operators were asked to stop further roll-out of the 3G service till security-related issues are addressed.
These steps have caused concern among the private operators who have invested huge sums in the 3G service. They have alleged that the DoT is not giving them a level playing field, as the state-owned BSNL and MTNL were offering the 3G service for almost a year now.
Meanwhile, as part of his interaction with telecom leaders, Mr. Sibal on Thursday met Kumar Mangalam Birla, chairman of the Aditya Birla Group that owns Idea Cellular. They discussed issues relating to the proposed new telecom policy and spectrum allocation. They also discussed the prevailing scenario in the telecom sector, in the backdrop of allegations of a massive scam in the 2G spectrum allocation in 2008.
Mr. Sibal had met Sunil Mittal of Bharti Airtel, Anil Ambani of Reliance Communications and Ratan Tata of Tata Teleservices. He is also likely to meet top Vodafone executives. The industry representatives have expressed concern at spectrum shortage and asked the Minister to look into their demand at the earliest.
