WLL services to be limited to local call area
New Delhi: The Indian government will limit wireless in local loop (WLL) operators to one short-distance calling area (SDCA) as per the ruling of the Telecom Dispute Settlement Appellate Tribunal (TDSAT), according to a decision taken at the meeting of the group of ministers (GoM) on telecom here on Sunday. "The GoM has decided that the government will limit WLL operators to one SDCA. The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) will examine issues relating to entry fees for WLL operators," said Union Communications and Disinvestment Minister Arun Shourie.

Shourie, nevertheless, refused to say how the decision will affect the code-digit multiple access (CDMA)-based WLL operators like Reliance Infocomm and Tata Teleservices. He also refused to give any timeframe for the implementation of the TDSAT judgement, which had said that a distinction has to be maintained between CDMA-WLL and the regular cellular services using the global standards for mobile (GSM) technology. On unified licensing, the GoM decided to wait for the recommendations of the TRAI, which are expected to be received in the next couple of weeks. "We hope to receive TRAI's recommendations before the next meeting of the GoM, scheduled on 30 October," Shourie said. "The regulator is working on the terms and conditions and the steps in the transition to unified licensing."
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