ISSUANCE OF FRESH LICENCES TO PRIVATE
OPERATORS
Fresh tenders for
grant of 14 licences for Cellular Mobile Telephone Service (CMTS)
to fill up vacant slots in eight Telecom Circles were invited
on 10th February, 2003. They are Andaman-Nicobar &
West Bengal, Assam, Bihar, J&K, North East, Orissa, UP East
and UP West. Although, seven companies had purchased the tender
document but none of the companies submitted their bid. In addition,
Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) was requested to
give their recommendations for grant of additional licences for
CMTS in terms of New Telecom Policy (NTP) 1999, which inter-alia,
stipulates that the entry of more operators in a Service Area
shall be based on the recommendations of TRAI who will review
this as required and no later than every two years.
TRAI have in
their response dated 20th February, 2003, expressed
its opinion that induction of Mobile Service Providers in various
service areas can be considered if there is adequate availability
of spectrum for the existing service providers as well as for
the new players, if permitted. TRAI have also stated that it is
of utmost importance to ensure adequate quality of service in
this fast growing segment of the market.
This information
was given by the Minister of State for Communications & Information
Technology, Smt. Sumitra Mahajan in a written reply to a question
by Dr. N. Venkataswamy in the Lok Sabha today.
