The Department of Telecommunications (DoT) has received several suggestions from the telecom industry?s key stakeholders, which will be considered while formulating its strategic plan for next five years, according to news reports.
The suggestions include the DoT being asked to identify three to four 20 MHz slots for auctioning and deploying 4G airwaves this year, migration to a technology-neutral licence regime, delinking licence and resources such as spectrum and numbering, a priority based licence renewal mechanism and reducing telecom service areas from the present 22 to pruning hefty interconnection costs.
The industry has also urged the DoT to chalk out a road map for vacation of additional airwaves to enhance telecom connectivity in villages, enable telecom companies to relinquish excess idle spectrum, encourage mergers and acquisitions, along with pooling of spectrum, subject to a cap on percentage basis of the total assigned airwaves in a particular circle to maximise economies of scale.
Other suggestions include formulating plans for rapid utilisation of Universal Service Obligation (USO) Funds for improving pan-India broadband penetration and unveiling uniform norms for setting up of telecom towers.
