Experts call for spectrum reforms

In order to transform broadband society from a voice-centric nation, the country requires immediate spectrum reforms, opined C S Rao, president-corporate affairs and regulatory, Reliance Communications Ltd at the inaugural function of the third edition of "The CII-MITSOT TeleTech 2012", organized in Pune recently.

With its theme 'New Telecom Policy 2011: Realizing the Vision', the panel consisted of experts like, Shridhar Shukla, convenor, CII-Pune and managing director of GS Labs Ltd, Hemant Joshi, telecom leader, Deloitte, Denis Petitjean, senior vice president Amdocs India, Reliance Communications, Rajan Mathews, director-general Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI).

Rao added, "Bulk adaptation of high-speed internet access is going to be the next revolution in the country. Currently, India has progressed with respect to voice communication, while broadband and data connectivity is on the anvil. In order to achieve the vision envisaged in NTP 2011, we need to overcome several challenges like spectrum reformation. In the present scenario, adequate spectrum is unavailable in India. Amongst the six major telecom players, there are about 400,000 base stations with one base station available at every 300 meter in urban areas, 800 meter in semi-urban and 1.5 km in rural areas. The current need of spectrum lies at 300 MHz along with optimum exploitation of available resources. Also, a robust infrastructure which includes the laying of fiber optic cables is imperative. Today, about one million km route of fiber optic cables have been laid collectively by the major players. However, the requirement is of at least five million km route of cable for every home to be able to enjoy a speed of 2-5 Mbps."

Hemant Joshi, telecom leader, Deloitte said, "The telecom industry is responsible for 3 per cent of the GDP and is expected to grow to about 15 per cent.