New Delhi: Telecom Minister Kapil Sibal has asked a committee, which is examining the conditions for allocation of spectrum to different entities, to submit its report soon. The Minister approved a note for expansion of the committee on April 1, 2013 and asked the panel to submit its report in one month from the date of its reconstitution, official sources said.
"The issue (spectrum assignment) impacts other ministries such as Department of Space and Ministry of Information and Broadcasting. The committee preferred to include members from these ministries before finalising report. Telecom Minister has approved proposal," sources said. This committee has been given task to examine conditions which need to be satisfied in order to adopt auction as preferred or the only mode of allocating spectrum. It is also studying conditions for which administrative allotment of spectrum should be treated as norm.
In addition, the panel has to look in to the condition for allocating spectrum to telecom companies during their licence period, sources said. The Minister has also asked the panel that "guidelines for migration to UL (Unified Licences) may also be finalised in the next one month", sources said. As per National Telecom Policy 2012, existing telecom companies will have option to migrate to Unified Licences, which is more liberal for business compared to their present licences.
The last spectrum allocation through administrative process for mobile telephony was done in 2009. It was put on hold after Supreme Court judgement of February 2, 2012
02:15 AM, Apr 13, 2013
Shanghai: Despite uncertainties in the telecom sector, Chinese equipment maker Huawei will invest $2 billion over the next four years in India as it looks to aggressively market consumer devices and set up global R&D centre in the country. The company, which clocked $1.5 billion in revenues from India in 2011-12, is also betting big on the rollout of 4G LTE services in India and is targeting more than 50...
06:33 PM, Jun 25, 2012
New Delhi: The Cabinet on Thursday approved a new telecom policy that proposes to abolish roaming charges on mobile phones and allow users to retain the same number across the country. The Cabinet approved the National Telecom Policy (NTP) 2012, which aims to provide free roaming to telecom users and allow them to retain the mobile number even outside their circles without having to pay any extra charge. Here's the...
10:59 PM, May 31, 2012
New Delhi: The Cabinet on Thursday approved a new telecom policy that proposes to abolish roaming charges on mobile phones and allow users to retain the same number across the country. The Cabinet approved the National Telecom Policy (NTP) 2012, a senior minister said after the meeting of the Cabinet. The NTP 2012 aims to provide free roaming to telecom users and allow them to retain the mobile number even...
01:24 PM, May 31, 2012
New Delhi: The Cabinet is likely to consider on Thursday the National Telecom Policy (NTP) that provides for abolition of roaming charges and allows users to retain the same number across the country. Last week, the Cabinet headed by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, deferred the NTP pending clarifications on certain aspects by the Department of Telecom (DoT). Departments under ministries like Finance and Commerce had raised objections on the new...
08:33 PM, May 30, 2012
New Delhi: The government is likely to take final decision on Thursday on the National Telecom Policy, which if approved will pave the way for abolishing of roaming charges and allowing users to use retain the same number across the country. "NTP is part of Cabinet's meeting agenda tomorrow (Thursday). We are expecting a positive decision on the same," a senior government official said. The policy, if approved, will replace...
09:05 AM, May 24, 2012
New Delhi: The government on Tuesday said the National Telecom Policy (NTP) 2012 will be in place by May. "It (NTP) will be done in May. We have already said that," IT and Telecom Minister Kapil Sibal told reporters on the sidelines of World IT Forum 2012. The Economic Survey had estimated NTP to be in place by June. The government through new telecom policy has made attempt to set...
06:36 PM, Apr 17, 2012
New Delhi: The Department of Telecom has chalked out a timetable for implementation of new telecom policy - NTP2011 - according to which it would be cleared by the end of April this year. The draft Cabinet note of new telecom policy, which is envisaged to bring in transparency and clarity in the telecom sector, is expected to be circulated to concerned Ministries by Tuesday, to which the responses are...
02:51 PM, Feb 20, 2012
New Delhi: A day after the Supreme Court cancelled 122 licences in the 2G spectrum case, senior BJP leader Murli Manohar Joshi on Friday accused the UPA government of misusing the NDA government's policy on 2G formulated in 2003. Joshi blamed Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and said that the responsibility of taking action is that of the Prime Minister as well as the Cabinet headed by him. "In case the...
04:59 PM, Feb 03, 2012
New Delhi: The new telecom policy, that is likely to usher in roaming free environment with one-nation, one-tariff and nation-wide mobile number portability, is likely to be delayed till June 2012. The draft NTP 2011 was announced in October by Telecom Minister Kapil Sibal, who had said that new policy would be ready after incorporating comments from all stakeholders by the end of 2011. According to official statement, highlighting developments...
07:20 PM, Dec 23, 2011
New Delhi: The much-awaited National Telecom Policy-2011, will be unveiled in January next year, Telecom Minister Kapil Sibal said on Friday. The policy was earlier expected to be unveiled by December this year, but delays in receiving recommendations have pushed the date to next year. "The (draft) policy I have already announced as I had committed. Industry wants some more time to respond, we will give them time. All what...
12:40 PM, Nov 04, 2011
This week on The Week That Wasn't, Cyrus Broacha brings the funny side to BJP leader LK Advani's Rath Yatra, the BlackBerry outage and the new Telecom policy. ...
11:27 AM, Oct 16, 2011
New Delhi: The government is expected to take a final decision on the contentious issue of spectrum pricing before the announcement of the National Telecom Policy, 2011 in December, which will make telecom operators shell out money for the radio waves held by them beyond prescribed limit. "Spectrum pricing issue is being dealt separately with the policy. Once we receive response of TRAI... which we expect in 15 days ie,...
11:01 AM, Oct 16, 2011
Mumbai: India will let cellular carriers share airwaves and allow for consolidation in a crowded industry that has been battered by ferocious competition and a multi-billion-dollar scandal, under new proposals announced on Monday. The draft policy will "facilitate consolidation in the converged telecom service sector while ensuring sufficient competition," Telecoms Minister Kapil Sibal said as he announced several new initiatives for the sector in a draft of the policy. Many...
08:47 AM, Oct 11, 2011
Telecom Minister Kapil Sibal on Monday unveiled a draft of the new telecom policy that will focus on transparency. ...
08:37 AM, Oct 11, 2011
New Delhi: Announcing the draft National Telecom Policy (NTP), Telecom Minister Kapil Sibal on Monday said that there will be one nation-one licence policy across the country, which means removal of roaming charges. As per the draft NTP unveiled by the Government on Monday, spectrum allocation will also be de-linked from licences and radiowaves would be made available at market-determined prices. Announcing that revenue generation for the Government will have...
05:20 PM, Oct 10, 2011
New Delhi: Announcing the draft New Telecom Policy (NTP) in the wake of the 2G scam, Telecom Minister Kapil Sibal on Monday said spectrum allocation would be delinked from licences and radiowaves would be made available at market-determined prices. As per the draft New Telecom Policy unveiled on Monday, the Government would also bring an exit policy as the market is crowded with too many players. "We will seek TRAI...
04:48 PM, Oct 10, 2011
New Delhi: Speaking on the new telecom policy on Monday, Telecom Minister Kapil Sibal said that there will be one nation-one licence policy across the country, which means removal of roaming charges. Draft National Telecom Policy 2011 aims for 'one nation-one licence'; targets full MNP and free roaming. Sibal also said that he wants India to become a hub for telecommunication. "Draft NTP targets broadband on demand," Sibal said. The...
03:55 PM, Oct 10, 2011
New Delhi: Amid rising concerns and lawsuits over allocation of telecom spectrum, a precious national resource, Communications Minister Kapil Sibal will unveil a draft of the new telecom policy on Monday that will focus on transparency and quick decision-making. The last telecom policy was unveiled over a decade ago in 1999 when India's phone subscribers base was barely a couple of million. It has since grown to nearly 900 million...
02:23 PM, Oct 09, 2011
New Delhi: The Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) investigating the 2G spectrum scam has summoned former attorney general Soli Sorabjee. Sorabbjee during his tenure as the attorney general had favoured the National Telecom Policy 1999. Sorabjee has been summoned after the JPC took congnizance of a Comptroller and Auditor General Report which said that the National Telecom Policy 1999 caused huge loss to exchequer. JPC Chairman PC Chacko said that Sorabjee...
07:34 PM, May 18, 2011
