Telecom ministry may announce new M&A policy within six months

India's telecom ministry is expected to announce a new mergers and acquisitions (M&A) policy within the next six months, which is also expected to put in place a concrete policy for sharing of spectrum and infrastructure.

The government would finalise the policy after taking the regulator, the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India's (Trai) feedback, which is expected by 25 October, telecom secretary R Chandrashekhar said.

He, however, clarified that the National Telecom Policy (NTP) document will be the framework on which various norms will evolve over a period of time after wide consultations with industry stakeholders in order to meet the government's objectives.

The department of telecommunications (DoT), after taking comments from the industry, will place the draft NTP before the cabinet committee for final approval. The depart will try to get it approved by the end of the calendar year, he added.

The DoT was also in advanced stages to cancel licences of operators who did not meet the eligibility criteria at the time of issuance of licences. The department will also cancel licences of companies that have rollout services.

Last year, DoT had served 119 showcause notices to telecom operators, of which 85 were telcos which were ineligible to get licences. It also identified 83 licences of telecom players that could not roll out services within the stipulated time.