Spectrum woes: telecom leaders to meet Sibal today

The chief executives of India's largest telecom companies are scheduled to meet with telecom minister Kapil Sibal today to sort out a range of spectrum and licensing issues, at a time when the industry is struggling against allegations of corruption over the allocation of 2G mobile phone licences.

"The minister will be holding a round table conference on issues related to spectrum management and licensing framework with key stakeholders," said a department of telecommunications (DoT) communication to telecom companies.

Issues including spectrum sharing, mergers and acquisitions, annual spectrum usage charges, and rising disputes among the telecom firms are expected to be discussed at the meeting.

According to the agenda for the meeting, the minister is likely to hold consultations with stakeholders to evolve a clear and transparent regime covering licensing, spectrum allocation and other issues in the telecom sector.

The recommendations given by Telecom Regulatory Authority of India on spectrum management and licensing framework, which earned criticism from most of leading telecom players, is likely to be the centre of deliberations, according to reports.

Leading mobile services provider Bharti Airtel has said in a recent statement that the TRAI recommendations are against the stated principle of the government to offer affordability, fairness and a level playing field.