Former DoT bigwigs in race to fill vacancy in Trai panel

KOLKATA: After months of hibernation, there’s a flurry of activity at the highest levels of government to constitute the full three-member Trai top brass under chairman Nripendra Misra. A committee headed by DoT secretary DS Mathur has been asked to find a replacement for DPS Seth (retired a year ago) to beef up the Trai team before the announcement of regulations on active infrastructure sharing and pooling of spectrum between operators.

Since the bulk of Trai’s future regulations will be technical and have a direct bearing on the long-term op-ex and capex requirements of telecom service providers, the hunt for a new Trai member (technical) is a high-stakes affair. Indications are that it will be a toss-up between two ex-DoT heavyweights in policy-making — former DoT advisor RN Prabhakar and ex-DoT member (technical) KL Jain. The search committee, which also includes Mr Satyanand Mishra, secretary in the Department of Personnel & Training, is slated to shortly make a final recommendation to communications minister Dayanidhi Maran.

“At this stage, RN Prabharkar and KL Jain are the sole contenders for the Trai member’s job. The search panel under DoT secretary will make a final recommendation to Mr Maran shortly. A final decision will be taken by the appointments committee of the Cabinet,” said a senior ministry official .

There appears to be a subtle exercise underway at the highest levels in government to pre-empt policy-related conflicts between DoT and Trai on telecom regulations, especially when there’s a genuine paucity of radio spectrum for existing telecom operators. A key indicator is the idea of bringing in ex-DoT slatwarts into the Trai high command. While Trai chairman Nripendra Misra is a former DoT secretary, Trai’s present member (finance) AK Sawhney is ex-member (finance) in the Telecom Commission — the DoT’s apex policy making wing.

The presence of former DoT veterans is slated to facilitate greater convergence in overall policy-making decisions between DoT and Trai. Two prominent contenders, Telecom Consultants India chairman GD Gaiha and BSNL director (business development) RL Dubey are no longer in the race.

Nearly a year has passed since Nripendra Misra assumed the reins at Trai from Pradip Baijal. He is virtually operating solo for months, Mr Sawhney was moved from the DoT to Trai to assist him. It now appears a third ex-DoT honcho will complete the makeover of the Trai high-command.