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Magnificent And Marvelous Development of Telecoms & I.T – What Next?. By DR T.H. CHOWDARY Director: Center for Telecom Management and Studies Fellow: Tata Consultancy Services Chairman: Pragna Bharati (intellect India ) Former: Chairman & Managing Director
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Magnificent And Marvelous Development of Telecoms & I.T –What Next? By DR T.H. CHOWDARY Director: Center for Telecom Management and Studies Fellow: Tata Consultancy Services Chairman: PragnaBharati (intellect India ) Former: Chairman & Managing Director Videsh Sanchar Nigam Limited & Information Technology Advisor, Government of Andhra Pradesh T: +91(40) 6667-1191(O) 2784-3121® F: +91 (40) 6667-1111 hanuman.chowdary@tcs.com World Telecom & Information Society Day: IE, Hyd 17thMay 2012
Apply, Apply – No ReplyHaathhaathmein Cell Phone • Magnificent, marvelous development of Telecoms & I.T due to • Liberalisation • End to monopolies • New technologies • No sector matches telecoms
How we achieved this (a) Affordability A X TSP PCI Time • A PCI/ Tele-Service Price • PCI: Per Capita Income • TSP: Telephone Service Price • A: Affordability S452_Nov2010
The Road Traversed • NTP 1994, NTP 1999, NTP 2012 bear out the truth Vaasaamsijeernaniyathavihaaya Navaanigrihnaatinaro-aparani • New facts, new policies • Supply is creating demand – • new applications, new devices, new services • Relentless migration to electronic form- e-commerce, e-books, e-learning, e-ticketing, e-marriage, e-talaq too…
Spanner in the Wheel • TRAI’s high-10 times more – reserve price for auction of 2G spectrum • Prices would go up 3 to 10 times • Rural penetration & usage suffers • Telcos will wilt- • 2G is not comparable to 3G, 4G… • Urban teledensity -85% • Rural = 40% • New markets in rural areas -capital intensive -revenue poor
Flaws in TRAI’s Views • Migrating 2G Telcos to 1800 MHZ Parts of Existing network to be abandoned • More cell sites; nearly double • Value of spectrum cannot be linearly projected • TRAI expects 50% data on 2G; but that would go to 3G/4G operators; its price rise is under-estimate
Role of TRAI • Is its mandate to generate/increase revenue to government ? or • Increase affordability and coverage & variety • Why cell towers need to take unified licence and pay a revenue share. TRAI assumes a revenue of Rs. 1900 cr to Government from Tower cos! Why should FDI be brought down from 100% to 74%. • Do electric power transmission towers and distribution poles require licence & give revenue share?
DOT- Promotes or Retards • Departments of I.T, Electronics, Renewable Energy, Tourism plead to promote the interest of their charges. • DOT restricts, burdens, pains and punishes. “Abominable no-men” … nay sayers”
What May be Done (1/2) • Wind up Telecom Commission. • Recharge DOT. • Purge the TRAI – Remove IAS, from TRAI (lovers of permit-licence-quota raj) • Remove Deputationists from DOT (practitioners of monopoly)
What may be done to TRAI (2/2) • Put liberal economists wealth creators & great businessmen. • Social scientists. • Engineers and IAS people without vision and a social philosophy could be disastrous. DHANYAWAD: THANK YOU