Telecommunication Industry Association

ISOC, Internet Society

Cellular Telecommunications Industry Association

Personal Communications Industry Association (PCIA)

Multimedia Telecommunication Association (MMTA)

Independent Data Communications Manufacturers Association

United States Telephone Association (USTA)

International Communications Association (ICA)

The Satellite Broadcasting and Communications Association

The Satellite Industry Association

Advanced Micro Devices (AMD)

American Telephone & Telegraph (AT&T)

Bell Atlantic

Bell South Telecommunications, Inc.

Cisco Systems, Inc.

3Com Corporation

Compaq Computer Corporation

GTE

Hewlett-Packard Company

Hughes Electronics

Intel Corporation

International Business Machines (IBM)

Lockheed Martin Corporation

Lucent Technologies

MCI International

Microsoft Corporation

Motorola Inc.

NEC USA

Nynex

Qualcom

Rockwell International Corporation

Sprint Communications

US West

Confederation of Indian Industry (CII)

The Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India (ASSOCHAM)

Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce Industry (FICCI)

Indian Merchants Chamber

Labor Unions

R.K. Hedge, Minister of Commerce

Naveen Patnaik, Minister of Steel & Mines

Buta Singh, Minister of Communications

Sushma Swaraj, Minister of Information and Broadcasting

A.V. Gokak, Chairman, Telecommunications Commission

B.K. Syngal, Chairman & Managing Director, VSNL

A.K. Mittal, Director, Department of Telecommunications

R.N. Agarwal, Wireless Adviser to the Government of India

Ashok Golas, Deputy Director General, Telecommunications Engineering Center, DoT

Kranti Kumar, Senior Deputy Director General, Ministry of Communications, DoT

K.S. Mohanavelu, Deputy Director, Indian Space Research Organization

International Institute for Communication and Development International Association of Broadcasting

International Teletraffic Congress (ITC)

Committee on Space Research

European Public Telecommunications Network Operators' Association

International Air Transportation Association

International Telecommunications Users Group

International Organization for Standardization

International Union of Railways

Deutsche Telecom A.G. (Germany)

Telestra Corporation Ltd. (Australia)

Bezeq (Israel)

Shinawatra (Thailand)

Nippon Telephone & Telegraph (Japan)

Itochu (Japan)

Bell Canada

PTT Guangdon (China)

Pekka Tarjanne, Secretary-General ITU

Renato Ruggiero, Director-General WTO

James D. Wolfensohn, President, World Bank Group

Inter-American Development Bank

World Bank Group

• IBRD
• IDA
• IFC
• MIGA
• ISCID

United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO)

United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD)

Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD)

International Telecommunications Satellite Organization (INTELSAT)

European Space Agency

International Mobile Satellite Organization (INMARSAT)

Inter-American Telecommunications Conference

Asia-Pacific Telecommunity

ta

Promoting liberalization of telecommunication markets worldwide

Influencing domestic and international policy affecting its membership

Advising its member companies of US and international policy affecting trade in telecommunication goods and services

Open markets for US telecommunications goods and services

Maintain status quo

Increase efforts to lobby Congress and other US gov't agencies to pressure India to expedite liberalization of its telecommunications market.

Work with other US private sector agencies, NGOs, interest groups and int'l agencies to expedite liberalization of India's telecommunications market

Put increased pressures on foreign countries during bilateral negotiations

Defer any action to international multilateral organizations such as WTO, IMF, ITU and World Bank

ITU's annual report on telecommunications and developing countries

World Bank's working papers on benefits of telecommunications liberalization.

Commitments tabled by other countries in WTO Basic Telecommunication Agreement

FCC statistics of rates of growth, decline in per call charges, and increases in efficiency due to telecommunication liberalization

Maintain status quo

Boycott India entirely and convince other countries to do the same

US Interest Groups

US Chamber of Commerce

Trade Associations

Promote US business interests

Lobby for action by US government

ITU's annual report on telecommunications and developing countries

World Bank's working papers on benefits of telecommunications liberalization.

Commitments tabled by other countries in WTO Basic Telecommunication Agreement

FCC statistics of rates of growth, decline in per call charges, and increases in efficiency due to telecommunication liberalization

Increase in jobs due the growth in telecommunications sector and new businesses that rely on using telecommunications products and services to generate revenue (i.e. internet, sales, etc.)

Use their power to sway US businesses to boycott selling their products and services in India

Lobby US to prevent Indian goods and services from entering US

US Business

Motorola

AT&T

Take advantage of comparative advantages and expanded markets offered by different countries

Produce products at cheapest cost and sell at highest costs so as to maximize profits

Status quo

ITU's annual report on telecommunications and developing countries

World Bank's working papers on benefits of telecommunications liberalization.

Commitments tabled by other countries in WTO Basic Telecommunication Agreement

FCC statistics of rates of growth, decline in per call charges, and increases in efficiency due to telecommunication liberalization

Take all activities out of US and threaten loss of govt. tax revenue.

International Organizations

ITU

WTO

WORLD BANK

Promote sustainable development

Spread democracy

Raise living standards

Status quo

Multilateral negotiations to expedite liberalization

ITU's Annual Report on Telecommunications and developing countries

World Bank's working papers on benefits of telecommunications liberalization.

Commitments tabled by other countries in WTO Basic Telecommunication Agreement

FCC statistics of rates of growth, decline in per call charges, and increases in efficiency due to telecommunication liberalization

India

Increase FDI flows

Reduce unemployment

Increase standard of living

Listen to advice of international agencies and US.

ITU's annual report on telecommunications and developing countries

World Bank's working papers on benefits of telecommunications liberalization.

Commitments tabled by other countries in WTO Basic Telecommunication Agreement

FCC statistics of rates of growth, decline in per call charges, and increases in efficiency due to telecommunication liberalization

Status quo

United States Government

USTR

FCC

NTIA

ITA

Open markets for goods and services

Increase Human rights and labor law enforcement

Status quo

Take sides with US

Join working groups in international agencies to address concerns

Individually punish companies that do not uphold core labor rights

Accounting reports demonstrating cheaper costs of production by moving to countries with limited environmental protection.

U.S. Office of Technology Assessment's 1992 Report on "Trade and the Environment".

NATIONAL TELECOM POLICY, 1994

The new economic policy adopted by the Government aims at improving India's competitiveness in the global market and rapid growth of exports. Another element of the new economic policy is attracting foreign direct investment and stimulating domestic investment. Telecommunication services of world class quality are necessary for the success of this policy. It is, therefore, necessary to give the highest priority to the development of telecom services in the country.

The objectives of the New Telecom Policy will be as follows:

1. The focus of the Telecom Policy shall be telecommunication for all and telecommunication within the reach of all. This means ensuring the availability of telephone on demand as early as possible.
2. Another objective will be to achieve universal service covering all villages as early as possible. What is meant by the expression universal service is the provision of access to all people for certain basic telecom services at affordable and reasonable prices.
3. The quality of telecom services should be of world standard. Removal of consumer complaints, dispute resolution and public interface will receive special attention. The objective will also be to provide widest permissible range of services to meet the customer's demand at reasonable prices.
4. Taking into account India's size and development, it is necessary to ensure that India emerges as a major manufacturing base and major exporter of telecom equipment.
5. The defense and security interests of the country will be protected.

The present telephone density in India is about 0.8 per hundred persons as against the world average of 10 per hundred persons. It is also lower than that of many developing countries of Asia like China (1.7), Pakistan (2), Malaysia (13) etc. There are about 8 million lines with a waiting list of about 2.5 million. Nearly 140,000 villages, out of a total of 5,76,490 villages in the country, are covered by telephone services. There are more than 100,000 public call offices in the urban areas.

In view of the recent growth of the economy and the reassessed demand, it is necessary to revise the VIII Plan targets as follows:

1. Telephone should be available on demand by 1997
2. All villages should be covered by 1997
3. In the urban areas a PCO should be provided for every 500 persons by 1997
4. All value-added services available internationally should be introduced in India to raise the telecom services in India to international standards well within the VIII Plan period, preferably by 1996.

The rapid acceleration of telecom services visualized above would require supplementing the resources allocated to this sector in the VIII Plan. The total demand (working connections + waiting list) showed a rise of nearly 50% from 7.03 million on 1.4.1992 to 10.5 million on 1.4.1994 over a three year period. If the demand grows at the same rate for the next three years, it would touch about 15.8 million by 1.4.1997. The actual rate of growth is likely to be higher as the economy is expected to grow at a faster pace. Achieving the target of giving telephone on demand by 1997 would thus imply releasing about 10 million connections during the VIII Plan as against the existing target of 7.5 million. Release of 2.5 million additional lines alone would require extra resources to the tune of Rs. 11,750 crores at a unit cost of Rs. 43,000 per line at 1993-94 prices. To this must be added the requirement on account of additional rural connections of Rs. 4,000 crores.

6. Even with the comparatively modest targets of the VIII Plan, as originally fixed, there is a resource gap of Rs. 7,500 crores. The additional resources required to achieve the revised targets would be well over Rs. 23,000 crores. Clearly this is beyond the capacity of Government funding and internal generation of resources. Private investment and association of the private sector would be needed in a big way to bridge the resource gap. Private initiative would be used to complement the Departmental efforts to raise additional resources both through increased internal generation and adopting innovative means like leasing, deferred payments, BOT, BLT, BTO etc.

With the objective of meeting the telecom needs of the country the sector of manufacture of telecom equipment has been progressively delicensed. Substantial capacity has already been created for the manufacture of the necessary hardware within the country. The capacity for manufacture of switching equipment, for example, exceeded 1.7 million lines/year in 1993 and is projected to exceed 3 million lines/year by 1997. The capacity for manufacture of telephone instruments at 8.4 million units per year is far in excess of the existing or the projected demand. Manufacturing capacities for wireless terminal equipment, Multi Access Radio Relay (MARR) for rural communication, optical fibre cables, underground cables etc. have also been established to take care of the requirements of the VIII Plan. With the revision of the targets demand would firm up and there would be an incentive to expand the capacities to meet the extra requirement.

In order to achieve standards comparable to the international facilities, the sub-sector of value-added services was opened up to private investment in July 1992 for the following services:

1. Electronic Mail
2. Voice Mail
3. Data Services
4. Audio Text Services
5. Video Text Services
6. Video Conferencing
7. Radio Paging
8. Cellular Mobile Telephone.

9. In respect of the first six of these services companies registered in India are permitted to operate under license on non-exclusive basis. This policy would be continued. In view of the constraints on the number of companies that can be allowed to operate in the area of Radio Paging and Cellular Mobile Telephone Services, however, a policy of selection is being followed in grant of licenses through a system of tendering. This policy will also be continued and the following criteria will be applied for selection:

1. Track record of the company;
2. Compatibility of the technology;
3. Usefulness of the technology being offered for future development;
4. Protection of national security interests;
5. Ability to give the best quality of service to the consumer at the most competitive cost; and
6. Attractiveness of the commercial terms to the Department of Telecommunications.

With a view to supplement the effort of the Department of Telecommunications in providing telecommunication services to the people, companies registered in India will be allowed to participate in the expansion of the telecommunication network in the area of basic telephone services also. These companies will be required to maintain a balance in their coverage between urban and rural areas. Their conditions of operation will include agreed tariff and revenue sharing arrangements. Other terms applicable to such companies will be similar to those indicated above for value-added services.

Pilot projects will be encouraged directly by the Government in order to access new technologies, new systems in both basic as well as value-added services.

Telecommunication is a vital infrastructure. It is also technology intensive. It is therefore necessary that the administration of the policy in the telecom sector is such that the inflow of technology is made easy and India does not lag behind in getting the full advantage of the emerging new technologies. An equally important aspect is the strategic aspect of telecom which affects the national and public interests. It is therefore necessary to encourage indigenous technology, set up a suitable funding mechanism for indigenous R&D so that the Indian technology can meet the national demand and also compete globally.

In order to implement the above policy, suitable arrangements will have to be made to: (a) protect and promote the interests of the consumers; and (b) ensure fair competition.

The objectives of the New Telecom Policy will be as follows:

1. The focus of the Telecom Policy shall be telecommunication for all and telecommunication within the reach of all. This means ensuring the availability of telephone on demand as early as possible.
2. Another objective will be to achieve universal service covering all villages as early as possible. What is meant by the expression universal service is the provision of access to all people for certain basic telecom services at affordable and reasonable prices.
3. The quality of telecom services should be of world standard. Removal of consumer complaints, dispute resolution and public interface will receive special attention. The objective will also be to provide widest permissible range of services to meet the customer's demand at reasonable prices.
4. Taking into account India's size and development, it is necessary to ensure that India emerges as a major manufacturing base and major exporter of telecom equipment.
5. The defense and security interests of the country will be protected.

The following are definitions and principles on the regulatory framework for basic telecommunications services.

Users mean service consumers and service suppliers.

Essential facilities mean facilities of a public telecommunications transport network or service that:

(a) are exclusively or predominantly provided by a single or limited number of suppliers; and

(b) cannot feasibly be economically or technically substituted in order to provide a service.

A major supplier is a supplier which has the ability to materially affect the terms of participation (having regard to price and supply) in the relevant market for basic telecommunications services as a result of :

(a) control over essential facilities; or

(b) use of its position in the market.

Appropriate measures shall be maintained for the purpose of preventing service suppliers from engaging in or continuing in anti-competitive practices of the following type:

(a) using information obtained from competitors with anti-competitive results; and

(b) not making available to other services suppliers on a timely basis technical information about essential facilities and commercially relevant information which are necessary for them to provide services.

2.1 This section applies to linking with suppliers providing public telecommunications transport network or services in order to allow the users of one supplier to communicate with users of another supplier and to access services provided by another supplier, where specific commitments are undertaken.

Interconnection with a major supplier will be ensured at any specified feasible point in the network as indicated in the licence. Such interconnection is provided:

(a) of a quality no less favourable than that provided for its own like services or for like services of non-affiliated service suppliers or for its subsidiaries or other affiliates;

(b) upon request, at points in addition to the network termination points offered to the majority of users as per licence conditions, subject to mutually agreed charges.

The procedures applicable for interconnection to a major supplier will be made publicly available.

It will be ensured that a major supplier will make publicly available either its interconnection agreements, or a reference interconnection offer.

A service supplier requesting interconnection with a major supplier will have recourse, either:

(a) at any time or

(b) after a reasonable period of time which has been made publicly known

to a domestic regulatory authority to resolve disputes regarding appropriate terms, conditions and rates for interconnection within reasonable period of time, to the extent that these have not been established previously.

India retains the right to define the kind of universal service obligation it wishes to maintain. Such obligations are not regarded as anti-competitive per se, since they would be administered in a transparent and non-discriminatory manner.

4. Public availability of licensing criteria

Where a licence is required, the following will be made publicly available:

(a) All the licensing criteria and

(b) the terms and conditions of individual licences.

The decisions of and the procedures used by the regulatory authority shall be impartial with respect to all market participants.