Pain Points in Indian Telecom

While others harp about scams and issues post-event,

I'd like to focus on what things which CAN be done for the FUTURE of Telecom,

I attended the Voice & Data CEO Conclave 2010, while it was an extremely fascinating gathering and everyone was positive on the topic - "Data: the Next Growth Wave" and spoke at length about -

A) The Digital Divide that is no longer urban & rural India BUT between Voice & Data users - (which harks back to my previous post on the Paradigm Shift from the Ear to the Eye)

 B) The Advent of 3G, 4G & LTE In India -  changing not just the way we communicate in this country but the very fabric of Indian Society, touching aspects of Education, Health, mCommerce, mBanking and Agriculture.

C) The Lost Opportunity of Bluetooth Technology and the advent of NFC Technology & LBS Services

But what I Really took away from the conclave, were the 10 laser-focused and sharp pain-points that  Satya N Gupta, said about what is Ailing the growth of Telecom & Data Services in India, Here's what i understood -

1) Multiplicity & ambiguity in the government's regulators - TRAI, DoT, WPC, USO, TCC, CCI, VTM ....

2) The emasculation of TRAI from regulator to recommender from Y2K

3) One Size Fits All Policies for both voice & data AND all the Telecom Players in India, irrespective of size of operations

4) The complete non-existence of telecom spectrum wholesale & resale policy guidelines

5) Spectrum underutilization due to mismanagement and lack of spectral consolidation - too many gaurd bands (a guard-band between adjacent channels, due to the unpredictable doppler shift of the signal spectrum because of user mobility. )

6) "Regulator Capture" - The govt makes the regulation implementing bodies "AUTONOMOUS"- but their independence appears only on paper as they are run by ex-govt employees, or govt officials on deputation or secondment

7) Banning Resale of Spectrum - Locks the exchequer away precious future valuations benefits

8) Multi Node Taxation -  licensing & revenue sharing levies, spectrum tax, service tax ....

9) Outdated Accounting system of Fully Allocated Cost isntead of Long Run Incremental Cost (LRIC) or better still Forward Looking LRIC - (An Excellent reference Source is: http://www.regulationbodyofknowledge.org/) 

10) Lack of a CONVERGED Regulator with Powers of Implementation of Policy completely disconnected from the Govt.

Any Thoughts ???


(All Credits are to Satya N Gupta and all misunderstandings are mine)