Unified licence: Road to success, or a minefield?

<div class="section1"><div class="Normal">In any sector, when legal battles emerge as roadblocks, novel ideas come to the fore. Perhaps the concept of unified licences has been put forth as a cure for all that confronts the telecom sector, a kind of magic wand. The GoM is to discuss the issue on Saturday.<br /><br />Fair competition is the foremost objective that regulators and governments strive to achieve.It enhances consumer interests, propels investment and growth. In India, our licensing regime is service and geography specific, as it is in much of the world — and for good reason.<br /><br />When telecom liberalisation came in 1994, there would have been few investors with experience and ability to take on a nationwide all service licence. Foreign investors would not have been attracted by such a proposition.<br /><br />The only meaningful scope of unified licence would include mobile, fixed, long distance, Internet and perhaps also broadcasting. This may be consistent with international trends, but before being carried away with it, policy makers need to examine tele-density, income and competition laws in such countries vis-a-vis India.<br /><br />Unified telecom licence will be an expensive proposition, which will affect competition. Currently most fixed and cellular operators are confined to one or two service areas. Only a handful can pursue pan-India ambitions. Going from the prices and choice, this has worked well for the consumer.<br /><br />In the unified scenario, would the large funding requirements make it possible for existing service providers to compete? Wouldn''t national and integrated players drive them out? Sell-offs, M&As may lead to consumers being thrown at the mercy of fewer competitors, which has little regard for affordable prices and service standards. <br /><br />Policy makers need to decide whether influencing market structure is their mandate — since unified licence is exactly that.<br /><br />Convergence, choice of technologies and services are often touted in favour of unified licences, but aren''t these benefits available today? With the exception of the procedure for acquiring mobile vis-a-vis other licences, there are no barriers to offering any service by acquiring multiple licenses, except the limitation of spectrum.<br /><br />Unified licence will not provide service providers or consumers what they don''t already have, except cellular mobile offering by fixed line operators. Unified licence can change neither the statute nor the availability of spectrum. <br /><br />There are also legal barriers to a policy shift. Service specific bilateral licenses granted by government cannot be unilaterally changed. This can be done only by mutual agreement.<br /><br />Policy makers and regulators need to stay clear of any violation of settled law. The two recent decisions of TDSAT on WLL and MSC have clearly demarcated the field of operation of cellular, WLL and fixed line operators. This is no more a grey area.<br /><br />An indication of government''s good faith would be enforcement of the TDSAT judgment limiting the range of WLL. Treating the current logjam as a commercial fight between fixed and cellular operators would yield no results. It''s the governments turn and they need to respond. Experience has shown that all attempts at quick-fix solutions have made matters worse. Hasty decisions without engaging stakeholders would be disservice. <br /><br />If no solution by negotiation emerges, let the apex court step in to decide the matter once and for all.<br /><br /><span style="" font-style:="" italic="">(The author is a former chairman of Trai)</span></div> </div>