comunication in india

Towards the end of 20th century, owing to the exponential growth in the telecommunication sector in India, the need for an autonomous regulatory and monitoring body was felt. The Government of India vide the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India Act, 1997 (Act) established the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI). The objective of TRAI was to regulate and direct the telecommunication sector in India. Later TRAI was also entrusted with the task to regulate Broadcasting and Cable Services.

Today, the telecom companies are no longer operating in the same service area, but are also venturing into broadcasting. Broadcasting companies, on the other hand, are looking at e-commerce services; and internet service providers are gearing up to provide content services and television channels. In this era of convergence, no single regulator can achieve its goal by primarily focusing on telecommunication sector and services. In the coming times, it may not even be possible to decipher the services from one and other. TRAI has undoubtedly done a good job under the TRYING circumstances. But, the time has come when we need a regulator for the entire electronic communications sector and services. TRAI, bound by the Act, has not been fully able to safeguard the interests of the consumer. Even though, TRAI proposed and came out with many recommendations for the growth in the telecommunications sector and improvement in quality of service, but most of them have not been implemented till date. Most of the services and security clauses for consumers/subscribers are inscribed in the License Agreement executed between the Department of Telecommunication and the telecom operators. Therefore, TRAI’s role gets restricted in such cases. This has further led to indifferent attitude of the telecom operators towards their subscribers and increase in consumer grievances.

TRAI, at present, is only regulating telecommunication and broadcasting (cable services) sectors. Unfortunately, there is no regulator for other means of electronic communications and services. The electronic communication network and services may include all kinds of transmission systems such as routing or switching equipment, which permit conveyance of signal by wire, radio, optical, electromagnetic means, satellite network, fixed and mobile terrestrial network, electricity cable system. Most of the developed countries have regulatory bodies to regulate the entire electronic communications sector. The countries like United Kingdom, which till 2003 had the Office of Telecommunications (OFTEL) to regulate telecommunications sector, later established the Office of Communications (OFCOM) (by incorporating OFTEL into it). On the other hand the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has been regulating electronic communications sector in United Sates of America. Also, much can be learned from the experiences of European Commission (EC) and United Kingdom in development and regulation of communications sector and services. The EC came up with regulatory framework for electronic communications in 2002, which was implemented by the EC member states in July 2003. Within two and a half years of implementing and remodeling their regulatory bodies, the EC is once again looking at redrafting its regulations with an eye on future communications developments.