Panel to fine tune Convergence Bill norms

KOLKATA: The government has just constituted an inter-ministerial group (IMG) headed by Telecom Commission chairman Vinod Vaish to fine-tune the core guidelines of the Communications Convergence Bill slated for introduction in the monsoon session of Parliament. Other IMG members are the secretaries of the Union law, I&B, IT and defence ministries. Mr Vaish said, The terms of reference of the inter-ministerial committee will be tying up any loose ends and formalising the government's view on ushering in the complex regime of convergent communications licencing... Efforts are on to steer the Communications Convergence Bill, 2001, through Parliament in the monsoon session. The IMG is understood to have been constituted at the behest of Union IT & communications minister Arun Shourie, who is keen to break the Convergence Bill logjam. , top circles close to Mr Shourie said. Significantly, the inter-ministerial panel is likely to help frame the licensing norms of the transitional regime (for all categories of telecom licencees) leading to the full-fledged migration to convergent communications licencing. It is expected to review all existing telecom licence conditions and map the road ahead for all shades of telecom operators, be it their financial commitment or network rollout obligation during the transitional period, and subsequently, after migration to convergent communications licencing. Perhaps the biggest question is whether limited mobility operators like Reliance Infocomm, Tata Teleservices and Bharat Sanchar Nigam (BSNL) will be allowed to offer full-mobility in an era of convergent communications licensing. The onset of convergent communication licences will pave the way for unified communications licences which is expected to particularly benefit large integrated telecom service providers like the Tatas, Reliance Infocomm, BSNL and Bharti Tele-Ventures. Sanchar Bhavan circles also believe the continuing debate on the validity of WLL-mobility can perhaps be resolved only after the passage of the Communications Convergence Bill, '01, in the Parliament. It may be mentioned that the government view on convergent licensing will be taken in the backdrop of the recommendations of the standing committee on communications, which has already approved the draft Communications Convergence Bill. The Bill has been drafted by a group headed by the eminent jurist, Fali S Nariman. The Convergence Bill advocates the setting up of a super-regulator, the Communications Commission of India, which will operate as a common regulatory authority for IT, communications and broadcasting services.

Panel to fine tune Convergence Bill norms

The government has just constituted an inter-ministerial group (IMG) headed by Telecom Commission chairman Vinod Vaish to fine-tune the core guidelines of the Communications Convergence Bill slated for introduction in the monsoon session of Parlia...

More from our Partners

Popular Categories

Hot on Web

In Case you missed it

Top Searched Companies

Latest News

Download ET APP

Follow us on

become a member