Get it right

TATTLE

Telecom Regulatory Authority of India chairman Pradip Baijal does not miss an opportunity to take pot shots at anyone, if they present incorrect figures.

That is what happened at the 6th Telecom Summit organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry in New Delhi last week. At the receiving end was Tata Industries managing director Kishore Chaukar.

Chaukar was chairing a session at which Baijal and Nokia chairman and CEO Jorma Olilla were present. Chaukar told the audience that India should be proud that the number of mobile subscribers had virtually doubled.

He also took a swipe at the regulator by saying that the TRAI had been making regulations that are sometimes difficult for the telecom industry to fathom.

Not one to take this lying down, Baijal retorted that Chaukar should get his maths right "� the number of subscribers had not just doubled, it had grown much beyond what Chaukar said.

Secondly, Baijal said that the regulator has been on a roller coaster ride to address to the continuous changes in the industry.

While in most cases the telecom industry had criticised TRAI's regulations, many of the regulations had eventually been accepted by the industry.

Chaukar, of course, apologised and promised that he would be more careful about his maths the next time.