TRAI, which had earlier recommended introduction of a unified licensing regime with an entry fee of Rs 1.07 billion, has now proposed that this fee be lowered to a mere Rs 50 million. It has also recommended that both the telecom and cable industries should be permitted a similar FDI cap and equal duty structure for all equipment, in addition to the cable industry being permitted institutional funding. It called for a single regulator for both the telecommunications and broadcast sectors and added that the Communications Convergence Bill, 2001 must be revived as afirst step towards a converged regulatory regime. The proposals also call for greater flexibility in spectrum allocation. The regulator’s recommendations for unified licensing have been pending with DoT for over 18 months.
