Nripendra Misra recently took over as chairman of the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI). Formerly telecom secretary, Misra inherits the challenging task of drafting recommendations and initiating the consultation process on tricky telecom issues such as spectrum and rural telephony. He is also responsible for giving direction to and regulating one of the fastest growing sectors in the country. tele.net spoke to the TRAI chairman at length on the concerns and future growth of the telecom industry. Excerpts…

What are the key concerns with regard to sector growth?

We need to improve the coverage of mobile networks, especially in smaller towns and along highways. Once higher coverage is achieved, growth will be further accelerated. Next, effective interconnection, which enables customers to get connected in a single attempt and helps service providers roll out services speedily in uncovered areas, is also vital. A simplified and transparent tariff structure will go a long way in improving customer interface, leading to greater satisfaction. At present, the trend is more towards expansion of the customer base and quality is being given second priority. As the market saturates, operators will become extra sensitive to the quality of service (QoS). With the availability of additional spectrum to service providers as recommended by TRAI, the optimal design of their network, which in turn would provide costeffective and better QoS to subscribers, will become possible. Also, with the rapid penetration of broadband, it is expected that the connectivity speed will improve further, leading to the provision of high data rate services like video-on-demand and IP-TV. Additional spectrum would also benefit other areas, as follows:

  • An increase in coverage through the use of better and more efficient technologies, resulting in faster promotion of e-governance, e-medicine, etc. in the rural areas will be possible.
  • Consumers will be able to enjoy a host of new data services while on the move with the deployment of high data rate technologies like 3G and 4G.
  • There will be a blurring of boundaries between broadcasting and telecom with convergence taking place not only in handsets but also in access networks. This would lead to bundling of a host of new services to cater to the needs of different market segments.

    What steps is TRAI taking to address these concerns?

    TRAI had already taken various steps in the past to resolve the interconnection issues.QoS has been the prime concern of TRAI in recent times. Though it prescribed the Quality of Service Regulation for both fixed and mobile networks, it has been observed that in the past few months, the performance of mobile networks has slipped a bit, especially with respect to congestion in the inter-operator network. TRAI is interacting with all service providers on how to resolve this issue. Regarding spectrumrelated issues, TRAI has already submitted its recommendations to the government. It has also submitted its recommendation on rural telephony.

    How is the telecom sector placed with regard to achieving the 250 million subscriber target?

    There is an urgent need to expand the mobile network to rural and unserved areas so as to provide coverage to 70 per cent of the rural population, which is presently untapped. As tariffs are also low, there is a huge unmet demand in the rural areas.

    What is TRAI’s view on spectrum allocation?

    TRAI had already given its detailed views in its recommendation to the government on spectrum-related issues. It would not be appropriate at this juncture to give any fresh views on the issue.

    Do you see a further fall in tariffs?

    Telecom tariffs are determined by market forces, except for tariffs for fixed line services in rural areas, cellular mobile roaming services, and domestic and international bandwidth. Though tariffs in India are amongst the lowest in the world, with the ease of entry for national long distance (NLD) telephony and developments in voice over internet protocol (VoIP), tariffs for some services are set to fall further. With convergence round the corner, broadband and similar services will also experience fierce competition. What one can also expect is that the nature of pricing for voice telephony will undergo a change. Further, with more and more advertising revenue shifting to the internet and mobile segments, telecom tariffs would see a significant change. Basic telephony services may be offered at a very nominal fee. Telecom service providers would also earn revenues from the advertising fees and value-added services.

    What are the reasons for the decline in the quality of telecom services, and what can be done to improve them?

    A major reason for the fall in QoS is that service providers are not able to keep pace with the exponential growth in the mobile subscriber base in terms of infrastructure development. Moreover, there is heavy congestion in the inter-operator network.

    What, according to you, will be the main thrust area for the telecom industry?

    Provision of telecom services in rural areas would be the main thrust area of the industry to attain the goal of accelerated economic development and social change.Convergence of services is also emerging as a major issue and the telecom sector will have to address this in the near future.

    What is the most feasible way to increase rural teledensity? Do you expect it to rise over the next one year?

    Growth in telecom services in the rural areas may be achieved by focusing on assistance in provision of appropriate infrastructure in these areas. The key feature of the rural network is providing access to the population through largely wireless means and connectivity of these wireless stations to the main network. An appropriate form of subsidy in the short run would be necessary to incentivise creation of infrastructure in the rural areas. Financial assistance from the Universal Service Obligation Fund will also cover the mobile infrastructure in rural areas in the near future. The use of new technologies such as Wi-Fi, Wi-Max and 3G should be encouraged for deployment in the rural areas for faster rollout of voice telephony and broadband services. TRAI has already given its recommendations to the government on growth of telecom services in rural India.

    What is the problem with regard to resellers in bandwidth?

    Resellers in the international long distance (ILD) sector have not been permitted in India as the focus has been on creation of infrastructure by new players. Normally resellers are introduced for enhancing competition after sufficient infrastructure has been established in a particular segment. TRAI has already made recommendations to the government on “Measures to promote competition in International Private Leased Circuits (IPLCs) in India”.

    What future trends do you foresee?

    Triple-play services ?? telecom, internet and television ?? will soon be offered by service providers. TRAI has already submitted its recommendations on the unified licensing regime in January 2005 to the government, wherein it was suggested that the existing service-specific licensing regime should be replaced by a unified licensing regime that would enable a licensee to provide any or all telecom services by acquiring a single licence.Suitable and necessary policy and legal changes ?? such as clarity in different acts, namely, the Indian Telegraph Act and Cable TV Act for providing these types of services ?? are being addressed at an appropriate level in the government.

    Also, the rapid growth in penetration of broadband will expectedly see connection speeds improve further, leading to the provision of high data rate services like video-on-demand and IP-TV.