Telecom too big for one ministry, says BK Modi

The man who had started it all in Indian mobile telephony some 15 years ago, BK Modi, is not competing with the telcos in this space any longer, but he still holds a strong view on the sector.

When asked to share his thoughts on the telecom regulatory environment of the country, the Spice Group chairman told DNA that the prestige of the country had risen manifold across the world after the recent 3G auction.

According to Modi, it’s a positive development that the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) has taken charge of the significant developments in the sector.

“Telecom is too big a sector for one ministry (referring to Department of Telecommunications) to handle,” Modi said on the sidelines of a press conference to announce the company plans to combine retail, devices and value-added services under a single roof. Handset maker Spice Mobiles on Tuesday announced reverse-merger with Spice Televentures Pvt Ltd, and the new venture will be called Spice Mobility. Modi said that PMO’s intervention would strengthen the DoT.

The PMO had recently asked the DoT to refer the recommendations of the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) on spectrum and licensing issues to an empowered group of ministers (EGoM) headed by finance minister Pranab Mukherjee.

The PM and his office has intervened in matters related to DoT earlier as well. When the 3G auction was getting delayed, the PM had appointed a GoM for vacation of spectrum from defence forces and allocation of the same to telcos. Also, Sam Pitroda, who’s often referred to as the telecom czar and now the PM’s advisor on public information and innovation, was brought in to sort out the spectrum mess. Pitroda was also put in charge for turning around state-owned telco, BSNL.     

Trai had, last month, recommended one-time fees from existing GSM players for holding spectrum beyond 6.2 Mhz. Incumbents including Bharti, Vodafone and Idea have been very critical of the Trai recommendations. Sources in the government have told this newspaper that the recent Trai recommendations are unlikely to be accepted by the government because of the significant industry opposition to it.