The department of telecommunications (DoT) will have to follow much stricter disclosure norms with regard to investors in the telecom sector. At present, though there are several private sector players who have been accorded licences to operate various kinds of services in the sector, there?s no comprehensive list of deliverables and time lines on the part of the government, which puts investors at a disadvantage.
As per the new norms of disclosures, which is likely to be recommended by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) as part of the review of licencing norms, DoT would have to put things very transparently so that an investor knows what?s in store for him.
A new website would be proposed, which would detail the norms so that everything is in public domain and investors are able to take decisions better and faster.
If for instance, today a mobile operator providing services in some areas wants to enter newer areas, DoT would have to provide full information as to when he would get the licence, how much time it would take to allocate spectrum to start the services and the roadmap of all future deliverables on the part of government. Similar would be the case if a new player wants to enter the telecom sector.
Trai officials said that a thorough, comprehensive and transparent disclosure on the part of the government leads to perfect information, which is a must for ensuring that perfect competition is in the market. At present, there?s imperfect information leading to litigation and lobbying by various players.
At present, for instance, players like Idea Cellular and Aircel have been given licences to provide services in newer areas but no spectrum has been allocated to them for the past several months. Players like Spice and HFCL, which operate in two and one circles respectively, have applied for pan-India licences. There are relatively unknown groups, which have applied for licences.
Trai, which believes the number of operators in an area should not be capped, feels that better disclosures norms would let market forces better decide how many players operated in a cirlce.
