New Telecom Policy put on hold

Bangalore: The Union government on Friday

gave an undertaking to the Delhi high court that it would not go ahead with its new

telecom policy till August 3 when the court is expected to hear a petition filed against

the policy by the Delhi Science Forum. The court has also asked the government to submit

details of the estimated earnings under the new policy, which marks a shift to the revenue

sharing regime from the license fee environment.

Attorney General Soli Sorabjee told the bench comprising of

the Chief Justice S.N. Variava and Justice S.K. Mahajan that the government would not

undertake any fresh agreements or commitments related to the new policy till August 3. The

new telecom policy was proposed to be made effective August 1.

Questioning the government's plan of revenue generation

under the new policy, the petition has said that public interest has been compromised

under the revenue sharing regime.

Meanwhile, the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI)

has put on hold the decision to accord free incoming calls facilities for cellular

subscribers. The proposal was to be made effective August 1. A TRAI statement has said

that the proposed calling party pays (CPP) regime would require additional time for

implementation and a separate notification would address the details of the matter in the

near future.

The telecom regulator has also allowed cellular operators

to fix lower security deposits within the ceiling of Rs 3,000 and rejected the demand for

charging installation fee when subscribers opted from one tariff to another. It has asked

the operators to either refund or adjust the difference in security deposits in the future

bills of the subscribers.