MEETING THE CHALLENGE

A suitable policy framework and regulator for the broadband are essential to enable private players contribute to the projects of national importance

- PAWAN GARG

The first phase of liberalisation in telephone service started with issue of two licenses for Cellular Mobile Telephone Service to private companies, in each of the four metro cities of Delhi, Mumbai, Calcutta and Chennai in November 1994, in line with the National Telecom Policy (NTP)-1994. The Voice & Data which started its publication shortly thereafter, has thus seen the growth as well as the challenges faced by Indian telecom sector since its liberalisation. An attempt has been made to bring out salient issues in the paragraphs below.

The inception

Initially the private-sector Indian companies, who wished to enter this sector, did not have any experience in telecom operations and hence, had to depend on collaboration with telecom operators in developed countries. These foreign telecom operators, who came to collaborate with Indian operators, did not have adequate knowledge and experience about Indian telecom market, economic affordability, etc. Even the global experience about mobile telephone services was not very large. All these factors resulted in extremely optimistic estimation of revenues from mobile telephone services, which made these companies to bid very high amounts for these licences in different parts of the country, when bids were called for different services areas, after the grant of licences in four metro cities.