In 119 countries of the world, there is by now a statutory telecom regulator who is totally different from and independent of the ministry or the incumbent operator. Representatives from over 100 of these independent regulatory bodies came to the ITU Telecom summit. The most important items discussed this year were about the universal access to telecom and the Internet and proper regulation in regard to prices, quality of service, affordability, and the involvement of consumers both in policy formulation and regulation (because the main purpose of telecom reforms is consumer welfare). Another important aspect, especially in developing countries with low teledensity, is attracting investment in the telecom sector, both from domestic and foreign investors. Regulation and competition should be such that the needed investments flow into the sector. For this purpose, neutrality, national treatment, predictability and political non-interference are necessary.

If a company wants to provide public telephones in areas where others aren’t going, it should just be required to register with the regulator Dr TH CHOWDARY thc@satyam.com

Assuring QoS is common for consumers in all countries. In the developing countries, the main objectives are: extension of the network to the entire national territory through investment and competition; making the services affordable to increasing sections of population so that more and more homes can subscribe to them, or access them through public telephones and Internet kiosks.

In countries like Chile, Peru and Columbia, which have a poor teledensity, a universal access/service fund is created. In Columbia, this fund is contributed by the government itself. In Peru, it’s funded partly by the government and mostly by telephone companies. In Chile, it’s entirely by the telephone companies.

Going by the usual procedure, bids are invited from whosoever is wanting to provide the specified number of public telephones and Internet kiosks in the designated areas. Whosoever is bidding for the least subsidy to install and operate them for a given period of time is getting the licence. Regulator is enforcing speedy interconnection. The winning bidder is also free to provide private telephones and other telecom facilities to whosoever is wanting in addition to the publicly accessed telephones/Internet kiosks. In some countries it is the regulator who is doing this and in some other countries, there is a separate administrator.

While inviting bids, the maximum subsidy the government is willing to give has also been specified. It was found that the winning bidders wanted between 25 percent and 45 percent of the subsidy, which the government was willing to give. The government’s estimates of the subsidies needed were based upon information given by the telephone companies who would always want to assert that rural telephony was very costly and therefore they should not be compelled to provide the services.

The regulator/administrator has no way of finding the correct figures.

In areas where there is no prospect of any private telephone, the universal access provider should have the responsibility only to provide the customer premises equipment and the link between it and the nearest network point (telephone exchange or ISP’s point of presence) and maintain and operate it for the specified period of time.

Whatever revenues are collected by the agent at the public facility should belong to the network to which it is connected and the attendant may be given whatever commission is agreed to between him and the network operator. This will avoid the problem of delayed and costly interconnection, and revenue-sharing related disputes. In fact, if any company is willing to provide public telephones /Internet kiosks in rural and remote areas where telcos are not going, it should not be required to take a licence but just register itself with the regulator and seek the latter’s help regarding interconnection and sharing of revenues.

Members of the regulatory body should be appointed through a transparent public-involving process. The minister may name them but they will be appointed only when the public criticism and comment is taken into account by a selection committee of highest integrity. The regulator must also give financial assistance to recognized consumer bodies and make available to them, information from the regulated companies so that they can discover the true costs for various services and segments of telecom networks and therefore intelligently and knowledgably participate in the process to set prices and relate them to quality of service. The regulator must be able to impose penalties for under-performance and the amount so realized may be put into a consumer assistance and education fund by the regulator.

The author is IT Advisor, Govt of Andhra Pradesh