Shourie's goodies for cell firms

Cellular operators would get an urgently needed 15 Mhz of extra frequency.

The move would be two years ahead of schedule by 2005, communications ,inister Arun Shourie said yesterday in a speech outlining a roadmap for the telecommunications sector.

Speaking at the Gartner Telecom Summit Shourie also said the ministry was earmarking 60 MHz for 3G mobile services.

In addition, it is working on separate funding for the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India and is reviving the Communications Convergence Bill.

"Additional spectrum of 15 MHz for GSM based cellular operators will be released by the middle of next year instead of the earlier commitment for 2007. We are also in discussion with the defence forces for release of 60Mhz spectrum for 3G services," Shourie said.

However, Shourie said the key issue of hiking foreign investment limits in telecom services from 49 per cent to 74 per cent would not be decided until after the elections. "It is a matter to be addressed after elections depending on government portfolios," he said.

The government would also issue guidelines on intra-circle mergers within a week, Shourie said. Trai has already sent its recommendations on the subject to the government. The move is expected to give a fillip to mergers and acquisitions in the industry.

Shourie said with technology moving rapidly towards convergence, the Communications Convergence Bill had becoming increasingly important, especially since broadcasting had now come under the telecom regulator.

Outlining the future trends in telecommunications, Shourie said that broadband was poised for explosive growth.

"In the next two to three years, manufacturing of telecom and IT hardware will come up. We have lost out on 10-15 years in the manufacturing segment but now we are reaching a scale where local manufacturing will become viable. India is also expected to be a major centre for research and development. We should also work towards expanding the domestic market for our IT products."

Later in an interview with Gartner analysts, Shourie said that the Government was working on a proposal to fund Trai from the licence fee paid by the operators instead of from funds provided by the Consolidated Fund of India. The exact percentage of the licence fee will be decided later.

The telecom roadmap

• Additional 15 Mhz frequency for cellular operators two years in advance
• Guidelines for intra-circle M&A soon
• 60 Mhz for 3G mobile services
• Separate funding for Trai
• Revival of Communications Convergence Bill