Govt sets up panel to hunt for next Trai chairman

The government has set up a search-cum-selection committee to choose a new chairman for the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) after incumbent J S Sarma retires in May. The committee is expected to have its first meeting tomorrow under the chairmanship of cabinet secretary Ajit Kumar Seth.

Pulok Chatterji, principal secretary to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, advisor on infrastructure to the prime minister Sam Pitroda, telecom secretary R Chandrashekhar and personnel secretary P K Mishra are the other members of the committee.

When contacted, Chandrashekhar confirmed the setting up of the committee for appointing the next Trai chairman.

Following the Supreme Court order cancelling 122 licences issued in January 2008, Sarma is involved in formulating new rules for 2G spectrum auction and licences.

The order had also directed telecom regulator Trai to frame new rules for licences and the auction of spectrum. Trai has already floated a pre-consultation paper for framing new norms and asking for comments from stakeholders. About 600 MHz of 2G spectrum would be released, following the Supreme Court order.

The prime minister has already held two stock-taking meetings with his cabinet colleagues to understand the implications of the court’s judgment and its impact on overall foreign direct investment. The government has also asked for the opinion of attorney general G E Vahanvati on the issue.

Companies hit by the court order include Uninor, Sistema Shyam, Loop, Videocon, Idea, Tata Teleservices, STel and Etisalat DB. Of these, Uninor, a joint venture between Norway’s Telenor and Unitech Group and Sistema Shyam, a joint venture between Russia’s Sistema and Shyam group, have invested about Rs 28,000 crore.