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SITM National Telecom Seminar: Communiqué-06

Symbiosis Institute of Telecom Management (SITM), recently organized the 10th National Telecom Seminar 'Communique-06' at Symbiosis Vishwa Bhavan, Pune where eminent luminaries of the communication industry discussed various issues and growth prospects in the telecom sector.

Inaugurating the seminar, Nripendra Misra, chairman, TRAI said, "Earlier telecom was a regulated monopoly, now it is moving towards unregulated competition and the challenge is to bring competition in this situation".

In a thematic address on "Enhancing Vision for Growth Across the Telecom Panorama", through a recorded video message, Sam Pitroda, chairman, WorldTel said, "The vision for growth includes improving on education, health services, rural connectivity and e-governance. The key challenges in urban areas are to improve broadband connectivity and to provide sufficient connectivity to SMEs. In rural areas, penetration is the concern."

Speaking on the occasion, Shantanu Consul, administrator, USO Fund, DoT said, "USO fund India is considering a proposal for providing support for shared infrastructure in rural areas for the cellular services. Indigenous manufacturers should venture into the field of R&D and manufacturing for rural sector". Highlighting issues related to the industry, Dr Mukund Govind Rajan, president, AUSPI said, "The time has now come for Indian telecom to address various challenges such as availability of spectrum, management of policy and regulation, Government led public private partnership". SITM also unveiled its "Annual telecom forecast 07" which foresees the growth in Indian telecom sector.

On the second day of the event, the panel discussed spectrum related issues. Ibrahim Ahmad, group editor, VOICE&DATA moderated the session. Talking about spectrum bottlenecks, SC Khanna, secretary general, AUSPI, said, "I forecast 270 to 275 mn subscriber bases by the end of 2007; given the fact that only 37% of the Indian market has been covered. Spectrum should be released from defense. To achieve this all the four concerned ministries ie Telecom, Finance, Defense and Law ministries should come together and take necessary steps." The other points that the panel zeroed in were, whether the recommendations given by TRAI match with the objectives of Spectrum Allocation.

Gyana Ranjan Swain
gyanas@cybermedia.co.in