NEW DELHI: In a major push to publish key agendas for the financial year 2017-18, Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) will begin a discussion with telecoms and broadcasting companies in January.
This first ever move by the telecom regulator will improve “regulatory predictability” in the sector, said RS Sharma, Chairman, TRAI. Such a move is also in line with the best practices followed by regulators across the world, including the US, Canada, and parts of Europe.
“We will call telecom operators and stakeholders in the broadcasting sector for meetings, so as to identify the upcoming issues,” Sharma added. TRAI will also take the viewpoints of other stakeholders, including the public into consideration, he said adding that by early March, they will be able to publish our agenda for the next fiscal year.
He emphasised that while TRAI’s “agenda” would be a broad proactive list, urgent issues would also be taken up during the fiscal as and when they come up even though they may not be included in the list itself.
On existing key issues such as review of the Interconnection
Usage Charges regime — on which the consultation process is currently on—would also spill over to the list, Sharma said he expected most of the current issues to get disposed of by March 31, 2017.
Hence, the “agenda” would include fresh issues to be taken up by the regulator.
The issues taken up by Trai during 2016 included free data, net neutrality, among others.
However, there was no calendar drawn up in advance by the regulator so far, leading some in the industry to comment on the manner in which new issues were being taken up.