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Union cabinet approves telecom plan

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CIOL Bureau
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BANGALORE: The Union cabinet on Thursday approved the migration package for

private telecom companies. However, the meeting, to clear the President's

address could not take up the much-awaited Information Technology (IT) bill

which contains many enabling and promoting features for the spread of

information technology in the country, including recognition of electronic

signatures.

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The telecom-migration package visualizes a shift from upfront license-fee

payment to a more favorable revenue-sharing arrangement for private basic and

cellular firms. In August, the Union cabinet had cleared an interim revenue

share of 15 per cent gross annual revenue, which was with effect from August 1.

A Supreme Court judgement had mandated that the new telecom plan would be

applicable subject to its getting the approval of the new government at the

Centre.

The Government, based on the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India's (TRAI)

recommendations, will decide the final percentage of revenue sharing. TRAI has

been asked to forward its recommendations on entry fee and revenue share for

cellular and basic services.

The IT bill, which will be taken up by the cabinet later, seeks to provide a

legal framework for electronic commerce and transactions. The bill has proposed

detailed machinery for licensing, monitoring and certifying authorities. The

bill also has a provision for appointment of a controller and adjudicating

officers to impose penalty and determine compensation in case of violation of

the rules. A Cyber Regulations Appellate Tribunal was also proposed to be set up

to hear appeals from the decisions of the adjudicating officers. The bill is

based on the UNCITRAL Model Law and the US State Laws of Utah and Illionis on

Electronics and Digital Signatures and the Electronics Transactions Act enacted

by Singapore. The President's address to the session is scheduled for Monday,

would mainly focus on the economic issues and the need to expedite the economic

reforms.

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