The Department of Telecommunications<\/a> (DoT) is set to bring back a provision in the draft telecom Bill that requires the government to seek reconsideration of the sector regulator's recommendations it doesn't agree with or explain the reason where those are rejected.
A revised version of the draft, to be brought out in the coming days after getting comments from stakeholders, will reinstate this provision - Section 11 of the Trai Act<\/a> - as well as clearly define over-the-top (OTT) communication players and make tweaks to the ways of spectrum allotment, in a bid to give more clarity and resolve any misgivings.
Section 11 of the Act was dropped from the current draft. Experts feared that its removal would rob the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India<\/a> of its powers and reduce it to be just a recommendatory body.
After Trai<\/a> raised red flags on the omission of the provisions of the Act, discussions were held between Trai and DoT officials as well as with other stakeholders and it has now been decided to continue with the existing provisions.
Officials at Trai and DoT confirmed to ET that all the issues have been sorted out.
DoT officials, though, said Section 4 of the Trai Act would not be reinstated as it was removed to give flexibility in appointments.
'Likely to Fine-tune Spectrum Allocation Process'<\/strong>
Section 4 relates to appointment of the Trai chairman and its members. Currently, only a secretary-level bureaucrat at a state or the central government can be appointed as its chairman.Apart from the Trai matter, DoT is set to define OTT communication in a much clearer way in the revised draft to remove any ambiguity. The current draft talks only about enlarging the scope of telecommunication services by bringing OTT communication services under the ambit. This has created confusion around what OTT apps would need regulation. The revised draft is expected to define OTT communication services, said officials.
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In the revised draft, DoT is also likely to fine-tune the exemptions wherein spectrum can be given administratively. Officials said the department had told telecom operators that backhaul spectrum should be taken through auctions going forward. As per the current draft, this spectrum used by operators to connect their sites can be given administratively.
DoT is set to officially extend the date for sending comments on the draft to November 10 after which it will come out with a revised draft, which will be taken to the Cabinet. Telecom minister Ashwini Vaishnaw<\/a> had on October 26 said stakeholders could give comments till November 10, extending the deadline from October 30. But the department hasn't come out with any notification yet.
After the draft telecom Bill was put up for public consultation last month, DoT officials as well as minister Vaishnaw have held meetings with stakeholders including telecom operators, technology companies and others. During such meetings, DoT has assured the industry that their views would be considered in the revised Bill.
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