M A I N   N E W S

Free roaming from next year: Sibal
Girja Shankar Kaura/TNS

Bonanza for users The National Telecom Policy 2012, approved in May, aims to abolish roaming charges and allow mobile phone subscribers to use same number across country without having to pay extra charges for services once they are outside their telecom circle The Telecom Minister said efforts were underway to resolve all regulatory issues at the earliest

New Delhi, September 24
Telecom Minister Kapil Sibal on Monday said mobile phone subscribers would not have to pay roaming charges from next year. The minister also stated that all regulatory issues plaguing the sector would be sorted out before the 2G spectrum auction begins later in the year.

Sibal was speaking to the media on the sidelines of the curtain raiser event of India Internet Governance Conference being organised by industry body FICCI.

The National Telecom Policy 2012, approved in May, aims to abolish roaming charges and allow mobile phone subscribers to use same number across country without having to pay extra charges for services once they are outside their telecom circle.

The minister said efforts were underway to resolve all regulatory issues at the earliest. He appealed to all stakeholders to help evolve a consensus so that a clear-cut roadmap could be chalked out for the sector.

Sibal hoped that the bidding for the upcoming auction in November would be aggressive in the interest of competition in the sector.

Telecom Secretary R Chandrashekhar said the Department of Telecom (DoT) was also working towards resolving all issues linked to the auction.

"We are first going to attend to all issues linked to auction. The moment Notice Inviting Applications (NIA) for spectrum auction are issued this week, we will focus on Unifoed Licence (UL). After details of the full UL are worked out, the modalities for free roaming will follow," he said. As per the schedule, NIA will be issued on September 28.

Sibal was also categorical in saying that there would be no restrictions whatsoever on Internet use. He described the Internet as an indispensable tool for governance in a free democracy and a way to help deliver services to the people transparently.