Dialling the future

Telecom minister Kapil Sibal has done a fine job of outlining the contours of what India wants its telecom future to look like. While there are many strands to the policy that Sibal announced, a few stand out. One, there will be one licence for all services (an Internet provider can provide voice services, and vice versa); there will be no roaming charges eventually (while Shourie began the universal licence trend by combining fixed and mobile services in one licence, Maran’s OneIndia plan almost ended the difference between STD and local calls); there will be a separate Network Service Operator (an Alcatel can buy spectrum and allow telcos to use its network to connect their clients at lower rates since larger spectrum allows dramatically lower costs); most important, 300 MHz of spectrum will be provided by 2017 and another 200 MHz by 2020. Goodbye high-cost spectrum, goodbye call drops!

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