Final draft on unified licensing next month

The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) is expected to submit its final recommendations on unified licensing next month, which would allow a single licensee to provide Internet, radio broadcasting, cable television and direct-to-home services.

Member, Telecom Regulatory Authority of India, DPS Seth, also told reporters on the sidelines of a seminar that there was no change on the regulator's stance on the issue of Access Deficit Charges.

"Trai's views on ADC are known. Access Deficit Charges is continuing," he said.

On Thursday, Communications and Information Technology Minister Dayanidhi Maran, had favoured the continuation of the Access Deficit Charges for Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd to compensate it for undertaking rural telephony.

The Telecom Rehulatory Authority of India had earlier released its draft recommendations on unified licences on August 6.

In November last year, the Telecom Rehulatory Authority of India had initiated the first phase, where access service licences (basic and cellular) were unified, and in the final step, towards convergence, it recommended that all kinds of telecom and media services be provided to the consumer from a single source.

The Telecom Rehulatory Authority of India had suggested to the Department of Telecom to reduce the licence fee by lowering the contribution towards the universal service obligation (USO) fund.

It also suggested to reduce the licence fee by cutting the administrative cost being paid by telecom service providers, while recommending a registration charge of Rs 107 crore plus an entry fee paid by the basic service provider in/after 2001, depending on the service area in this regime.