Trai boss for old order

Newly appointed Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) Chairman Nripendra Misra today said he would not take a fresh look at Trai policies, but would continue with those adopted by his predecessor Pradip Baijal.

"We will not start with a clean state, but will build upon the modular approach that has been followed by Trai. There is no question of a fresh look into policies," Misra said immediately after taking charge.

Misra said he favoured the current technology neutral approach of the government and added that the regulator would be friendly towards emerging technologies.

"Anything good for the country should be facilitated and if Trai has a role in it, it must move in that direction," he said.

Ruling out any differences between the regulator and the department of telecom (DoT), Misra added that the government had legitimate concerns to ensure the stability of state-owned service providers.

He said he was not aware of any differences between the two. He also denied that DoT had ever approached the PMO seeking Baijal's removal while he was the secretary.

He said he would get service providers to bridge the urban-rural gap in connectivity, adding that "DoT is the primary mover of rural telephony and this issue was under the domain of the department".

He also added that he would work with service providers to improve the quality of mobile services. He said it was essential for all players "" private and public sector, DoT, the government and service providers "" to work together for the development of the sector.