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October 1-15, 1999 TELECOM |
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TELECOMMENT Stop DOT's Obstructionism DOT has become a law onto itself and not even the PM is able to rein it in. T.H. Chowdary Some while back when the Prime Minister announced that the Information Technology Task Force would write a new National Telecom Policy, I wrote an article titled "Has the Prime Minister taken DOT's permission?" I was proved right. Since he did not take the permission, DOT overruled him and got a new Task Force led by the PM. It was called GOT (Group on Telecoms).
The government's liberal policy allows broadcasters to uplink to broadcast satellites through their own gateways and for ISPs to put up their earth stations to interconnect internationally. While this requires transponder capacity from satellites, it appears that DOT requires that all ISPs must go to the VSNL to get transponder capacity from INTELSAT or other satellites. The VSNL marks up the INTELSAT charges by 20 percent (as a commission agent). It is abhorrent that an intermediary is imposed charging as much as 20 percent more than what the supplier is willing to charge. Sometime back, INTELSAT, the international communications satellite consortium, had taken note of the fact that there were several enterprises in the same country requesting for transponder capacity because of de-monopolisation. The old system whereby INTELSAT had only one signatory in a given country and even that signatory's competitor will have to go through the signatory for transponder capacity had been done away with. Enterprises can directly approach INTELSAT now. But the monopolistically-minded DOT does not want to put an end to VSNL's exclusive agency rights to get INTELSAT capacity. The government should stipulate that every enterprise that is licensed to put up its own satellite earth station could directly deal with the INTELSAT or any other satellite system for transponder capacity they require. The STP Hyderabad leased a 2 Mbps capacity line for Rs 4.8 million per annum between its SES at Hyderabad and the export promotion zone at Visakhapatnam. The leased circuit was commissioned on 23 October 1998. But DOT said that since their billing cycle starts from July 1, 1998 to June 30, 1999, no matter when the leased circuit was given, the full amount of Rs. 4.8 million must be paid! The TRAI has ruled that effective from April 1, 1999 the new reduced lease charges will apply . This means that the amount the STP has to pay for its circuit from Hyderabad to Visakhapatnam is only Rs 2.4 million per year. DOT refuses to recognise the TRAI's new rate on the ground that the circuit was leased before the TRAI order came into force! One can very well imagine the amount of obstruction, obfuscation and money-sucking attitudes prevalent in DOT. DOT's office at Visakhapatnam has not hesitated to enhance the rentals to the pre April 1, 1999 subscribers on the basis of TRAI's orders. What it means is that whatever be the rule, DOT overrules finally. It is clear that the DOT has become a law onto itself and not even the Prime Minister is able to rein it in. The techno-bureaucracy's obstructionism was so great that the poor Prime Minister had no option but to shift Communications Minister Jagmohan and take over the department himself. The impediment continues in many ways. But there is a way. Remove the operations from DOT and corporatise them. Till then, licensing must be removed from DOT and entrusted to some other department. Individual officers who are acting illegally and obstructively must be brought to book and made to pay for obstructioning and sabotaging government policies. The writer is ex-chairman of Videsh Sanchar Nigam Ltd |
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It is sad to note that such intrusions
have become the habit of DOT. It cuts off telephone lines on allegation of non-payment, or
disjoined the interconnection of P-Telcos on the ground of non-payment of licence fees;
and now they have disconnected the ISPs from their connection to the STP's international
gateways. 
