NEW DELHI, DEC 5: The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) Act, 1997 will not be amended, said telecom commission chairman Anil Kumar. Kumar, who was addressing the national convention on telecommunications, jointly organised by Assocham and Telecom Industry and Service Association of India (TISA) said the role of Trai would be strengthened in the proposed telecom policy.The proposed amendments include making it mandatory for the government to seek the Trai's recommendations in dispute settlement, an addition to the preamble of the Act and a provision to ensure that the number of persons having served the government will not exceed half the number of members at any time in the future.Industry associations led by CII have been vociferous in their support for the amendments, in order to strengthen the hands of the Trai. Kumar said the government is committed to resolve all problems of cellular and basic telecom service operators. Admitting that the 1994 telecom policy was prepared in haste, heassured industry representatives that an appropriate policy framework was being designed keeping in mind the changed scenario.Kumar also ruled out the coporatisation of DoT in the near future."There are a number of issues involved in the process and no haste is needed," he said, adding that the corporatisation of the department should be done in phases over the next five to ten years. Acknowledging the need for DoT to be efficient, Kumar said,"we remain committed to being a service provider as well policy maker".Kumar said the new national telecom policy will be released in the next ten days. The DoT intends to design a policy that will increase overall tele-density in the country, while ensuring private participation in meeting the village telephone project targets.The policy will also consider the convergence of new telecommunication and information technologies and their impact on the Indian scene. However, he remained silent on the imbroglio over high licence fee for private operators in basicand cellular services. Telecom Commission member services P S Saran said DoT revenues would decline substantially if internet telephony was allowed.
