Attempting to move beyond the country?s tainted 2G history, telecom minister Kapil Sibal?s new telecom policy would promote consolidation in the telecom sector and bring about effective utilisation of spectrum in a clear, transparent and a balanced manner so that government earns revenue, users get best services at reasonable rates and the industry posts healthy growth.

Speaking at the Idea Exchange programme of the Express Group, Sibal said he would also come out with norms on mergers and acquisitions. ?The Department of Telecommunications (DoT) is assessing whether the country needs 13-14 operators per circle. Keeping in mind that spectrum is scarce and there is a spectrum crunch and it has to be priced and utilised appropriately, we would decide on the mergers and acquisition policy,? he said.

Sibal acknowledged that it was high time the government had a re-look at the current 10% ceiling of cross-holding norm which bars a telecom operator from holding a stake of more than 10% in another operator in the same circle. It is held that this cross-holding norm prohibits any meaningful consolidation in the industry. Sibal said the new M&A norms would also have sufficient riders to forestall monopolistic tendencies in order to prevent anti-consumer steps like tariff hikes. ?We will have to decide on the maximum market share an operator can have post any M&A to avoid a monopolistic takeover,? Sibal said. The new policy would ensure that spectrum would be used optimally. ?We will ensure that whoever has spectrum uses it efficiently. Having spectrum and not using it is akin to a flight which flies without passengers. Spectrum policy would touch upon the issues of the numbers of towers that should be put to use spectrum to the utmost capacity and spectrum sharing will be thoroughly examined among the measures to ensure efficient spectrum usage,? he said. Sibal said that the new telecom policy will be unveiled in 2011 and would be finalised once recommendations of the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India are received and discussions with stakeholders.