Telecom Commission to Discuss Trai's Broadband Recommendations on Tuesday

Inter-ministerial panel Telecom Commission will meet on July 14 to discuss the suggestions of sectoral regulator Trai on broadband services that may lead to reduction in landline call rates.

The panel may also consider Trai recommendation on allowing virtual network operators (VNO) to operate in the country. They are expected operate as retailer of different telecom operators under one roof and provide one bill to customers for a host of services.

According to the recommendations, a VNO would offer all telecom services permitted under new licences. It is expected to reduce marketing and sales cost of telecom companies struggling in the sector besides sharing some operational expenses too.

"The meeting is scheduled for July 14. Trai recommendation on improving broadband are to be discussed at the meet. The panel may also deliberate on Trai's suggestion on virtual network operators," an official source said.

The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) had suggested exempting fixed line broadband service from licence fee for at least 5 years and suggested a series of measures to expedite the roll out of high speed network. The recommendation, if accepted, will bring down cost of phone calls made from landlines.

The regulator has suggested allowing telecom operators to bundle desktops, laptops, tablets and so on with their broadband schemes and exempt revenues from such offers from the applicable license fee at least for a certain number of years, say for three years.

Trai recommended to the government to either provide more spectrum or audit spectrum held by various entities to ensure efficient use of airwaves to push growth of mobile broadband.

In the recommendation issued on April 17, the regulator suggested that the government take a decision on 700MHz band - the best spectrum frequency for wireless telecom services - within three months so that details of its auction can be worked out.

Trai also expressed concerns over the government delaying guidelines on spectrum trading and sharing which could lead to efficient use of spectrum.