A Department of Telecommunications (DoT) panel, headed by A.K. Srivastava, (DDG-AS) has recommended that the country ought to be considered as a single region, or, at best, four regions. This is designed to eliminate the roaming fee paid by users when travelling.
Currently, the country is divided into 22 circles and consumers pay roaming charges when they make or receive calls outside their home circle.
The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) will be asked to iron out the details for this project. The panel has however not specified any time frame for the merger of all circles into a single entity from the licensing perspective.
The panel has also recommended that operators be allowed to offer financial services on mobile phones, while adding that the move would speed up the government?s efforts to ensure that the weaker sections of the society have access to such facilities at affordable costs.
It added that the DoT must chalk out a policy for renewal of telecom licenses, as well as a national policy on the setting up telecom towers.
