Since there are no prizes for guessing who the FSP is, in most of the states, this condition has left most of the aspiring NLDOs fuming. With DoT being the only worthwhile FSP, it will now be left to the best of the NLDO's capabilities to negotiate a "mutually acceptable revenue-sharing formula with DoT," felt the industry.

Now the good news. DoT promises that all applications submitted for licences will be speedily processed, within 15 days. The licences will be issued on a non-exclusive basis for a period of 20 years and will be extendable by 10 years.

Entry fee and licence fee
As expected, NLDOs will have to shell out Rs 100 crore as a one-time, non-refundable entry fee, and four refundable bank guarantees of Rs 100 crore, which shall be given back on completion of each phase, subject to fulfilling the network roll out obligations, which will have to be submitted along with the application.

Apart from this, the applicant company shall also have to submit a financial bank guarantee (FBG) of Rs 20 crore, one year after signing the licence agreement or before commencement of the service, whichever is earlier.

However, category II infrastructure providers will not be required to pay any entry fee. Meanwhile, the licence fee, for both NLDOs and Category II Infrastructure Providers has been capped at 15 per cent, each - this will include both the revenue share and the Universal Obligation Fund.

Union communications minister Ram Vilas Paswan also said the Department of Telecom Operations (DTO) will be exempted from paying the entry fee. However, it will have to pay a licence fee, which will be used for setting up Village Telephony.

Inter-connection
The Government has also made it mandatory for FSPs, cellular mobile service providers, and cable service providers to provide interconnection to NLDOs, such that subscribers have a free choice to make inter-circle/ international long distance calls through NLD service providers.

The NLDO licencees will be allowed to enter into inter-connection arrangements with other service providers to establish and maintain points of interconnect and enable transmission and reception of the messages. While the charges for access or interconnection with other networks shall be based on mutual agreements between the service providers, they will be subject to restrictions from TRAI.

The guidelines also shift the onus of making arrangements for leased lines with the Access Providers for the last mile on the shoulders of the NLDO.

Right of Way
The licencees will have to make their own arrangements for Right of Way (ROW). Non-availability of ROW or delay in getting permission/clearance from any agency shall not be construed or taken as an excuse for non-fulfillment of the roll-out obligations, say the guidelines.

Eligibility criteria
The applicant company shall have a minimum paid up equity capital of Rs 250 crore on the date of the application. The promoters of applicant company shall have a combined networth of Rs 2500 crore. The networth of only those promoters, who have at least 10 per cent equity stake in the total equity of the company, shall be counted.

The constituent(s) having at least 30 per cent of total equity in the applicant company must have an experience of telecom sector and the proof thereof shall be attached with the application or licence.

Foreign equity
As per the guidelines, the total foreign equity in both the NLD company and category II infrastructure category must not exceed 49 per cent at any time during the entire licence period. Investment in the equity of the applicant company by an NRI/OCB/International funding agencies will also be counted towards its foreign equity.

In this regard, the applicant company shall submit a certificate fromthe competent authority to the effect that total foreign equity in the applicant company does not exceed 49 per cent.