As I’m planning to move to national capital soon, my mind goes back to rosy days of Indian telecom sector, when we all had happy days in offices & little procrastination to do. Not long back, time had turned tables upside down and there’s little we can expect to change soon.
Perhaps the sentiments of every person employed in the industry had gone sour with the delay by EGoM on deciding the reserve pricing of spectrum, cancelled in February 2012. And now news coming up only recently that auction of spectrum, freed after cancellation of 122 licenses, can only be held in Sep 2012. DoT, TRAI & EGoM are finalizing the formula by which the airwave’s reserve prices will be lowered by compensating it with increased spectrum usage charges. But telcos have already opposed the idea of increased spectrum usage charge. This gridlock has no easy solution.
In a recent interview, new TRAI chairman Mr. Kuller has lamented the way industry players’ opposition to proposed spectrum auction and the pricing. According to Mr. Khuller, the debt is an important issue, forcing telcos to resist norms setup of TRAI & DoT. But perhaps, since joining office a couple of months back only, Mr. Kuller had forgotten the history of recent 3G auctions, where overpriced bidding had virtually killed the prospects of quick mass adoption of 3G services. Auctioning the natural resource like spectrum at higher than market price, discovered through competitive bidding, is no way in interest of nation. And while you aren’t in favor to auction spectrum at under-price, we believe that DoT and overall government’s attitude had changed little, when you have refused to make any progressive decisions.
Come September and many of dark clouds surrounding the airwave auctions might have gone, but then who would dare to oppose policy makers? Question remains- are we heading towards doomsday scenario or going to see rosy days back? Policymakers have nothing to lose while sitting on fat cash pile generated through spectrum auctions, but then can anyone at helm dare to risk for sake of industry and nation? Why the Telecom industry is let suffered at hands of few? But surely gone are the days when we had good days in offices and peace in life.
