The Year That Was…

April '98

Buta Singh Is the New Communication Minister



With the advent of the BJP-led coalition government at the centre, Buta Singh is
appointed the new communication minister. Kabindra Purkayastha is the minister of state.

India Announces Plan to Launch 12 New Satellites



The Department of Space proposes a budget of more than $3 billion for launching
of twelve new communication satellites in the next five years.

VSNL Launches Subsidiary Company



On 1April 1998 VSNL incorporates a new 100 percent subsidiary, VSNL Seamless
Services Ltd, for value-added services. With a paid-up capital of Rs 80

crore, it was

expected to be operational by October 1998.

Sushma Swaraj Succeeds Buta Singh Sushma Swaraj takes over as the communication minister in April, after

Buta Singh is asked to quit by the Prime Minister.

May '98

Indian PHS Forum Formed



Companies, which promote PHS technology in India, form an association to lobby with the
government to vacate the PHS frequency band and also to promote PHS for both fixed and

mobile networks in India. 

June '98

First Private Telephone Service Launched



On 4 June 1998, the private basic services finally takes off. Bharti Telenet becomes the
first private operator to start the services in India.

Delhi HC Quashes TRAI



In a landmark judgement in June the Delhi High Court shoots down an order by TRAI
to prevent the entry of MTNL into cellular services as a third player in Delhi and

Mumbai. 

July '98

Information Technology Action Plan Released



The IT Task Force submits its action plan to the Prime Minister in July making
exhaustive recommendations on the IT industry. 

August '98

Government Announces GMPCS Policy



The government, in a policy declaration on 15 August 1998, permits the
introduction of Global Mobile Personal Communication by Satellite (GMPCS) in the country.

DoT Declares SDCA as Local Area



DoT decides to treat the entire Short Distance Charging Area (SDCA) as one local
area for the purpose of "charging". This scheme gets effective from 15 August

1998.

September '98

Cellular Operators Get Extension in Licence Period



DoT, finally, agrees on the demand of cellular operators to extend the licence
period from 10 to 15 years. However, before reaching to any decision on the terms and

conditions for the extended period i.e., from 11th to 15th year, it decides to take into

consideration the suggestions from the TRAI.

Iridium Plans to Route Calls via Thailand



The Iridium LLC management and Iridium South Pacific decide on 2 September to
route calls through Thailand gateway, rather than the Indian counterpart for its South

Pacific subscribers.

October '98

PM Announces Programme for Telecom Growth



The Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, who then held the communication
portfolio, announces a schedule for resolving the pending issues of telecom privatization

in the country.

Planning Commission Proposes to Open LD Telephony



The Planning Commission proposes the opening up to long-distance telephone by the
end of 1999. The Commission in its action plan, prepared in consultation with the Prime

Minister’s Office further proposes separating DoT’s role of an operator from

that of policy making.

Sankhya Vahini Sets Stage for High-speed National Data

Network



A high bandwidth national backbone is proposed to be operational by 15 June 1999. A MoU
for this project is signed between Prof. Raj Reddy, chairman, IUNet Inc., USA and Anil

Kumar, secretary, DoT during the latter’s visit to the US. Called "Sankhya

Vahini", the project will interconnect users like universities, schools, hospitals,

businesses, manufacturing units, and financial institutions. It will provide for their

educational training, healthcare, and other novel applications needs requiring high

bandwidth. 

November '98

Licences issued to Private ISPs



The first licence to private ISPs was issued on 6 November 1999. The announcement
to this effect was made by Prime Minster Atal Bihari Vajpayee at the inauguration of

Bangalore IT.Com ’98. MTNL, Ortel Communications of Bhubaneswar, and Surevin of

Ghaziabad are issued licences on the said date.

TRAI Introduces Consultation Paper on Service

Quality



The TRAI introduces a consultation paper on Quality of Service (QoS) on 16
November 1998 as a first step towards fixing parametres for the telecom services in the

country.

GoT Instituted



The BJP-led coalition sets up Group on Telecom (GoT) on 20 November 1998 and
holds its first meeting on 28 November 1998. The inter-ministerial group comprises 10

members under the chairmanship of deputy chairman of Planning Commission, Jaswant Singh.

Other notable members include: Dr N Seshagiri, DG, NIC; Dr Rodham

Narasimhan, director,

National Institute of Advanced Studies; Dr S Rangarajan, director, satellite

communications, Department of Space.

New DoT Panel



Government sets up a new DoT panel to facilitate private investments in the
telecom sector. This is a seven-member panel called Focus Action Group on Private

Investments Promotion (FAG-PIP) and is headed by the then additional secretary

(communications) Dhanendra Kumar.

First Private ISP Launches Services



On 22 November 1998, Satyam Infoway launched its Internet Services, the first by
a private ISP in the country. The Prime Minister, Atal Bihari Vajpayee, formally

inaugurates the service.

December '98

Jagmohan Is the New Communication Minister



Jagmohan, member of parliament from the New Delhi constituency, takes charge as the union
minister for communications in December.

TRAI Launches Consultative Paper on Paging



TRAI launches another consultative paper. This time, it is on paging services to
determine the viability assessment of licence fees of the service providers. This is

TRAI’s third consultative paper in less than two years.

February '99

Spectrum Management Committee Report



The Spectrum Management Committee headed by Lt. Gen. Prakash Gokarn, AVSM, signal
officer-in-chief, Indian Army submits its report to the government. The aim of the

committee was primarily to review the present practices and procedures with regard to

spectrum allocation and suggest means for optimizing its utilization.

MTNL Launches Internet Services in Delhi, Mumbai



MTNL’s much waited Internet services are launched in Delhi and Mumbai on 9
February. At a small gathering in Delhi, CV Rajan, the chief general manager of MTNL

Delhi, places the first Internet call.

March '99

TRAI Announces Telecommunications Tariff Order 1999



The TRAI announces Telecommunication Tariff Order 1999 on 9 March this year.

New Telecom Policy Announced



The New Telecom Policy is announced on 26 March this year. The policy envisages
to: