Unified licensing: GoM a divided lot
New Delhi: The group of ministers is divided on the issue of unified licensing in telecom in yesterday's meeting. The ministers, of course, agreed on the other proposals put forward by the department of telecommunications in the first meeting of the group, headed by Finance Minister Jaswant Singh, but a decision on unified licensing was deferred due to 'lack of unanimity'.

Some members of the group raised objections as they thought the move will benefit only Reliance Infocomm. "A policy should not be tailored to fit a handful," an official was quoted as saying. The members were also concerned about the Telecom Engineering Committee report, which said Reliance had violated licence conditions while offering limited mobility services.
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Restrict WLL: DoT legal opinion
New Delhi: The department of telecommunications might have publicly taken the stand that the telecom disputes tribunal's judgement does not ask it to restrict the mobility of wireless in local loop services. But its legal opinion on the judgement makes it clear that the mobility of WLL operators has to be restricted to the local calling area or the short distance charging area (SDCA). The opinion also said that handing over calls from one SDCA to another, or 'roaming', is not to be allowed under any circumstances.

The opinion was sent to Telecom Secretary Vinod Vaish on 22 September by A Sinha, department joint secretary and legal adviser. Vaish, on 18 September, decided to seek legal opinion after the cellular operators sent him a letter stating that the tribunal's judgement said WLL services had to be restricted to the SDCA. "The telecom department's continued inaction is nothing but a deemed stay in favour of fixed-line service providers, and compromises its neutrality in this regard," the cellular operators said in their letter on 4 September.
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