Governance
In News: Telecom Regulatory Authority of India has released a Consultation Paper on Telecommunication Infrastructure Sharing, Spectrum Sharing and Spectrum Leasing.
Objective: To promote optimum resource utilization among the licensees – it is proposed to allow sharing of all kinds of telecom infrastructure and network elements among all categories of service providers.
Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI)
- It is a statutory body, established in 1997 by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India Act, 1997
- It is headed by a chairman and not more than two full-time members and not more than two part-time members.
- TRAI is administered through a secretariat headed by a secretary.
- It comes under Ministry of Communications and Broadcasting.
- The TRAI Act was amended by an ordinance, effective from 24 January 2000, establishing a Telecommunications Dispute Settlement and Appellate Tribunal (TDSAT) to take over the adjudicatory and disputes functions from TRAI.
- TDSAT was set up to adjudicate any dispute between a licensor and a licensee, between two or more service providers, between a service provider and a group of consumers, and to hear and dispose of appeals against any direction, decision or order of TRAI.
- TRAI has brought out the Mycall app, MySpeed app and Do not disturb (DND 2.0) apps to ensure that there is transparency between what consumers are paying for and what telecom operators are promising to provide at a certain rate.
- Ensures welfare of citizens:
- to create and nurture conditions for growth of telecommunications in India to enable the country to have a leading role in the emerging global information society.
- to provide a fair and transparent environment that promotes a level playing field and facilitates fair competition in the market.
- issue orders and directions on various subjects such as tariffs, interconnections, quality of service, Direct To Home (DTH) services and mobile number portability.
- to regulate telecommunication services, adjudicate disputes, dispose appeals and protect the interest of the service providers as well as consumers.
- To establish standards for Quality of Services (QoS) and supervise how service providers share revenue
- To conduct periodical surveys to ensure that telecom service providers are acting in the best interest of consumers and are opening in compliance with universal service obligations.
- Recommend government or the license providers on Efficient management of available spectrum, the introduction of new service provider, Revocation of license for non-compliance, Technological improvements in the services and so on.
Connecting the dots:
