Unified license in the Indian context means technological convergence of wireline and wireless. However, unified license has to grapple with many complex issues involved in framing new policy, modifying the various license conditions and interconnection terms along with the implementation of recommended orders by the TDSAT.
Ask
any one "what's hot in Telecom in India",
pat comes the reply, "Unified License." Pose
another, "When will it come, pre or post election",
and then there is silence. May be Conditional Access
System (CAS) is working at the back of their mind. Be
that as it may, Telecom Regulatory Authority of India
(TRAI) has come out with a consultation paper on "Unified
Licensing for Basic and Cellular Services" dated
July 16, 2003. Skepticism crept into the industry circle
on the scope and definition of unified license, which
forced TRAI to express its willingness to consider suggestions
to include National Long Distance Services (NLD), International
Long Distance Services (ILD) and Internet services under
the umbrella of Unified Licence. This proposed change
in the policy may have many ramifications in the industry.
The
unified license has been viewed by a few in the industry
circle as an abridged version of The Communication Convergence
Bill 2001. The timing and the scope of unified license
are questioned by the cellular industry. "The TRAI
is well aware of the imminent decision of the TDSAT,
which is undertaking a de novo review ordered by the
Supreme Court. There is a great risk of timing of this
consultation paper being seen as attempting to make
this review ordered by the Supreme Court infructuous,"
opines Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI)
Director General T V Ramachandran. The agitation is
understandable considering the fact that if unified
license is implemented in the proposed form, Basic Service
Operators (BSOs) will be at an advantage as Code Division
Multiple Access (CDMA) based Wireless in Local Loop-WLL
(M) Limited mobility may not have geographical boundaries.
The
Infocomm Development Authority (IDA), the statutory
board of Singapore Government, has adopted a two-pronged
approach differentiating licensing into facility-based
and service-based licensees. The licensing framework
is formulated into a hierarchical level, the Facilities
Based Operators (FBO) at the higher level, who can build
telecommunications network for the carriage of telecommunications
and broadcast traffic and the Services Based Operators
(SBO) at a lower level who can offer only services and
not vice versa.
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