Open sesame on spectrum ahead?

A month after announcing that spectrum will no longer be given free with telecom licences, the government indicated that it may bring all telecom service providers on the same pedestal as far as buying it is concerned.

The move can potentially allow connectivity companies like Tulip Telecom, AT&T, British Telecom and Sify to bid for and buy spectrum and roll out services using their existing licences.

“Basically, the idea seems to be to bring ISP and long distance licences on par with the UASL licence,” said the CEO of a firm that participated in a ‘roundtable’ conference organised by Kapil Sibal, minister of communication and IT on Tuesday, as part of consultations for the New Telecom Policy 2011.

He did not wish to be named.

The conference was organised as part of a ‘feedback’ mechanism for the communications ministry before it came out with the new telecom policy of 2011.

India used to have four types of terrestrial communication licences — cellular, land-line, internet service provider and long distance provider.

Over time, the first two have been merged into a universal access service licence or UASL, while the ISP licences have been confined to cable operators and big international firms like AT&T and BT stuck to the long distance licence.

The new licence will also have a ‘national’ variant, which enables its holder to buy spectrum and roll out service anywhere in the country.

Currently, all licences are for a state only.

The overhaul is part of Kapil Sibal’s 100-day program and also involves complementary activities such as liberalising the merger  acquisition laws for telecom operators.

Currently, an estimated 20% of India’s 2G spectrum is not being put to proper use as the new operators that they have been allocated to have found the market too unattractive to start operations.

Allowing them to sell out or cancelling their licences for not rolling out will free the spectrum, giving a chance to big operators to expand their network capacities.

Hostility between telcos rattles Sibal
Kapil Sibal, the four-month old telecom minister, was taken aback by the sheer hostility between telecom operators during a consultative roundtable on Tuesday.

According to participants, the extent of bitterness and mud-slinging between the ‘camps’ startled the boisterous lawyer-turned-politician.

“He seemed upset,” pointed out the head of a telco who participated in the meet.

“He kept repeating and reminding everyone that it is odd to find so much of a division. He was very pained, said this is not the right way to go about it, we cannot work like this etc.”