Telecom dept to seek law ministry opinion within a week

The Department of Telecommunications (DoT) is to seek the law ministry’s opinion within a week on the unified licencing (UL) guidelines.

DoT had planned to issue the final notification of the new guidelines by end-April. In the new regime, telecom spectrum is to be delinked from licences. It would allow operators to offer various services such as mobile, landline, direct to home and cable TV by taking licences for the services they want to offer.

There is no major change in the guidelines from what the DoT committee had recommended, said a senior source. Adding: “The UL would be finalised very soon.”

Meanwhile, the Empowered Group of Ministers (EGoM) on telecom is also expected to meet within the next 10 days, to discuss different issues, including ways to revitalise state-run telecom companies Bharat Sanchar Nigam and Mahanagar Telephone Nigam. The source said DoT would give “a bouquet of suggestions” and a decision taken by EGoM. “A timeframe of four to five years is reasonable to look at for revitalisation of the state-run telcos,” added the source.

The EGoM is also expected to take a decision on the next round of auctions, including the timing and pricing. On the former, the source said it would take place “very quickly”, possible as soon as June or July.

Recently, DoT sought detailed recommendations from the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India on the refarming issue, according to the source.

Earlier, the DoT committee on UL had recommended two licences for operators, a Unified Licence (National) and Unified Licence (Service Area). It had suggested the entry-level fee for the UL (National) or the network licence be a one-time non-refundable Rs 15 crore. The net worth and equity requirement should be Rs 25 crore for an interested licensee. Existing licencees would have to migrate to the new UL policy.