Ex-TRAI chief Baijal appears before JPC

Former Telecom Regulatory Authority of India chairman Pradeep Baijal appeared before the Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC), probing the 2G scam, and made a brief presentation on the successive telecom policies followed since 1999, sources said.

He told the thinly-attended panel meeting that since the 1999 New Telecom Policy, teledensity in the country has increased manifold and the subscribers have benefited by paying very low tariffs.

Baijal credited the various decisions taken by the government as well as recommendations made by TRAI for the fast growth of telecom sector in the country as compared to other sectors.

He said the infrastructure created for the telecom sector was sufficient to support 3G and 4G services and the operators will have little problem in spreading the new facility to the users, said the sources.

Though most of the JPC members had expressed their inability to attend the meeting today, panel chief P C Chacko decided against postponing it and asked Baijal, TRAI chief between March 2003 and March 2006, to make presentation.

He would be called before the committee again to face questioning by members. PTI NAB