Govt to restructure DoT soon

SINGAPORE, June 10: Minister of Communications Beni Prasad Verma, revealed here today that the government would soon be restructuring'' a...

SINGAPORE, June 10: Minister of Communications Beni Prasad Verma, revealed here today that the government would soon be 8220;restructuring8221; and 8220;corporatising8221; the Department of Telecommunications DoT. This would give the DoT financial autonomy and allow it to tap the Indian and foreign debt market for funds conforming with the debt-equity ratio allowed under the company norms.

The Minister, who is in Singapore to attend the Asia Telecom 978242;, added that the disinvestment of the Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Ltd MTNL is also on the cards. DoT secretary A V Gokak pointed out 8220;The disinvestment of the MTNL and the restructuring of DoT cannot altogether be separated.8221;However, he could not set a time frame for the disinvestment process. Asked why the pace of liberalisation in basic services was so slow, Verma said that besides the two operators who have been given licenses-Bharti Telecom and Reliance, four more would be signing up very soon for providing services in Rajasthan, Punjab, Karnataka and Maharashtra.

Asked about the interconnectivity terms which has become a point of dispute among new global players seeking to enter the Indian market, the minister said that most of the problems have been ironed out. 8220;A few others are in court, but we expect the cases to be sorted out soon.8221; He said that the criticism that the terms were weighed heavily against the new entrants is not justified because 8220;this is something that is inevitable in any industry when it opens up.8221;

Another point of dispute has been the assignability clause. Gokak said that the wording of the clause has already been finalised, and any license would have to get into a tripartite agreement which would be signed by the licenser the government, the licensee and the lender. Both foreign and Indian investors would be assigned the license if the licensee defaulted on payment of the license fee.

However, the ultimate choice in the transfer of license would rest with the government, pointed out Gokak. 8220;The lender, whether Indian or foreign, can only recommend who the new licensee should be,8221; he said. This was the norm in most countries, he pointed out.Responding to the criticism levelled by the International Telecommunications Union secretary general Pekka Tarjanne, yesterday that India8217;s liberalisation process in the telecom sector was too slow as compared to other countries in the Asia-Pacific, the Minister said the criticism was totally unjustified. 8220;Critics must remember that China opened up its telecom sector in the late seventies.8221;