No Summer For Indian Telecom

Putting an end to the speculations, Indias Supreme Court has declined to review its decision to cancel the 122 2G telecom licenses, thereby dismissing the plea of the operators. The apex court had earlier ordered to revoke 122 2G telecom licenses issued to various operators in 2008, citing corrupt allocation practices as a key reason. (See IndiaWatch: Telenor Faces Fund Crunch.)

The decision is considered to be the final nail in the coffin for the affected operators who were hoping against hope for a possible turnaround. Nevertheless, with billions of dollars at stake, one cannot discount the possibility of a number of rounds of court battles contesting the decision. (See IndiaWatch: Telenor Sues Govt For Arbitration, Policy Paralysis Hits Telecom Sector and IndiaWatch: Telenor Faces Fund Crunch.)

Even though the Supreme Court has set a good precedent by sticking to its guns, it has also raised several questions. It puts a big question mark on the countrys credibility for foreign investors, and gave a dismal glimpse of the utter chaos and ill-preparedness engraved within the system. (See 2G Verdict: An Easy Exit Route or Fresh Troubles?, Hiring Slump Hits New Grads and Mounting Uncertainty Over Job Losses.)

Whats also distressing is countrys lethargic approach in granting licenses and framing effective policies. Its also atrocious to see this resulting into a panic like situation for operators, investors and employees, with little or no clarity coming from the authorities. For how long can we drum the feat of having achieved a spectacular rise in mobile telephony? With no concrete efforts to ensure fundamentals in place, it will be too ambitious to expect industry stakeholders to strive towards innovation or put efforts to take the industry to the next level.

"It is certainly unfortunate that a sunrise industry like telecom is probably spending all of its bandwidth and resources in mobilizing lawyers to fight its cases, while it should have moved to more advanced communication solutions for its people. While Indian summer has certainly arrived, the telecom industry is still in its deepest winters," comments Sridhar T Pai, CEO and Founder, Tonse Telecom. (See A Disappointing Year!)

Even though the government did promise to build a better ecosystem with the New Telecom Policy which was slated for a release in 2011, the delay and indifference has shaken the belief.

On a lighter side, operators may resort to the modern day Indian troubleshooter Nirmal Baba for a reprieve.

-Jatinder Singh, Principal Correspondent, Light Reading India