The tardy process of privatisation in this sector has been a cause for concern for the Government which has initiated the Cabinet Secretary's call for the meeting early next week.

The meeting is also likely to take up the nitty gritty of the Global Mobile Personal Communications Services (GMPCS) policy which is ready to be sent to the Cabinet.

The meeting is expected to take stock of the demands made by cellular, basic and paging service operators with regard to licence fees. For cellular operators, a draft Cabinet note has already been circulated to the Ministry of Finance and the Law Ministry to consider the demands of cellular operators for a two-year moratorium on payment of licence fees and the the extension of the licence period from the existing 15 years to 20 years.

DoT, in its note, has sought permission from theCabinet to refer the matter to the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) for the extension part of the licence fee. And, if this is allowed, the terms of reference for the issue is to be referred to the TRAI.

On the issue of a two-year moratorium, DoT has sought the views of the Finance Ministry as the latter will have to provide for Rs 2,000 crore per year on the revenue side of the budget for the two years that the Government extends the moratorium for the operators.

Once this demand of the cellular operators is accepted by the Government, the basic operators are also likely to press for similar concessions in licence fees payment. Basic operators have another issue, that of digging charges for laying cables to set up their services.

The private operators have asked the Ministry of Surface Transport (MoST) to allow them digging rights at minimum rates along highways. MoST had originally slapped rates to the tune of Rs 75,000 per km to private operators digging along the highways. Subsequently,the Cabinet Secretary had to intervene, when operators approached his office for reducing these charges. Next week's meeting is likely to decide on a long-term solution to this problem.

With the worldwide launch of GMPCS scheduled for September 23, the Cabinet is likely to clear the policy in this regard very soon. The meet may discuss the number of players to be allowed, licence fees and the companies to be awarded these licences.