We know that the most vexed question of migrating the P-Telcos from the killing up-front payable licence-free regime to revenue-sharing, as well as what this share should be, had not been decided by the DoT but left to others- typical in the DoT fashion. How the magnificent obsession with the preservation of its primacy and money-making persists in the DoT despite government's clear-cut decisions is evident from the following two instances.

The government has decided (cabinet decision approving the first report of the National Task Force on Information Technology in August 1998) that the ISPs can use earth stations of Software Technology Parks (STP) to interconnect with Internet backbones. The DOEs STP are spread over in 14 cities throughout India and havebeen in business for years, having obtained all clearances. They have registered themselves as ISP providers. The government has also decided that a global gateway of one ISP can be utilised by other ISPs for interconnection to overseas Internet backbones. In the light of these policies a number of ISPs have approached the STPs (Example: Bangalore and Hyderabad) to go through their gateways to world destinations for Internet. Suddenly the DoT directs STPs to disconnect these ISPs. The DoT requires that STP gateways should seek clearance from DoT for this purpose. So the ISPs are disconnected by the peremptory DoT order. It is sad to note that cutting off has become DoT's habit. They cut off telephone lines on allegation of non-payment, they cut off the interconnection of P-Telcos on grounds of non-payment of licence fees, now they disconnect ISPs from their STP's international gateways.

The government's liberal policy allows Indian broadcasters to uplink to broadcast satellites through their own gateways.ISPs can put up their satellite earth stations to interconnect globally. All these require transponder capacity from satellites. It appears that DoT is requiring that all of these must go to the VSNL to get transponder capacity from INTELSAT or other satellites. The VSNL marks up the INTELSAT charges by 20 per cent (as a commission agent). It is hateful that an intermediary is imposed between the user and the suppliers and the intermediary charges as must as 20 per cent more than what the supplier is willing to charge. Quite sometime ago, INTELSAT, the international communications satellite consortium which is an international cooperative, has taken note of that fact that there are several enterprises in the same country requesting for transponder capacity because of de-monopolisation. The old system that the INTELSAT has got only one signatory in a given country and even that signatory's competitor will have to come through this signatory for transponder capacity had been done away with enterprises candirectly approach the INTELSAT now. But DoT, in its money-making power through monopoly, is not ending VSNL's exclusive agency to get INTELSAT capacity. The government should decide that every enterprise that is licenced to put up its own satellite earth station could directly deal with the INTELSAT or any other satellite system for transponder capacity it requires.

The STP Hyderabad has leased 2 Mbp capacity between its SES in Hyderabad and the export promotion zone in Visakhapatnam. It was to pay Rs 4.8 million per year. The leased circuit was commissioned on October 23, 1998. But the DoT officer says that since its billing cycle is from July 1, 1998 to June 20, 1999, no matter when the leased circuit was given, the full amount of Rs 4.8 million must be paid. Its illegitimate demands do not stop there. The TRAI has ruled that effective form April 1, 1999, the new reduced lease charges will apply. According to that, the amount that the STP has to pay for its circuit from Hyderabad to Visakhapatnam is aboutRs 2.4 million per year.

The DoT refuses to recognise the TRAI's new rate on the ground that the circuit was leased before the TRAI order came. Now one can imagine the amount of obstruction, obfuscation and money-sucking attitude in the DoT. The particular DoT's office in Visakhapatnam has not hesitated to enhance the rentals for the pre April 1, 1999 subscribers on the basis of TRAI's orders. This means: whatever the rule, DoT will apply it in such a fashion that it ends up making more money.

It is clear that DoT has become a law unto itself and not even the Prime Minister is able to rein it in. It has been able to nationalise and capture even the communications minister. The techno-bureaucracy's obstructionism was so much that the poor Prime Minister had to shift the communications minister and take over the department himself. The obstructionism continues in many ways. There is only one way to end it. Remove the operations from DoT and corporatise them. Till then, licensing must be removed from the DoTand entrusted to some other department. Individual officers who are acting illegally, unintelligently and obstructively must be brought to book and made to pay for their ignorant obstructionism and for sabotaging government policies.

The author is information technology adviser to the government of Andhra Pradesh