Telcos oppose 'service authorisation', see threat of regulatory uncertainty
NEW DELHI/KOLKATA: India’s top telecom operators decried the sector regulator’s suggestion that the government grant service authorisation to companies offering communication services instead of entering into a contractual agreement, warning that such a move would ring in regulatory uncertainty and undermine investor confidence.
All three private carriers — Reliance Jio, Bharti Airtel and Vodafone Idea (Vi) — unanimously stated during a consultation process of the regulator that the current practice of contractual arrangement should continue as it provides regulatory certainty and predictability. But the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) has not agreed to the demand of telcos.
Trai has suggested that the Centre grant service authorisation under Section 3(1) of the Telecommunications Act, 2023, instead of entering into an agreement. It also said the rules for service authorisation should be prescribed separately under the Telecommunications Act.
In such a scenario, a top telco executive wondered how a company would have any clarity on what the rules would be in future. “An agreement now is binding, and telcos can challenge if the government unilaterally changes something, but that won’t be possible in the new (proposed) framework.”
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