Even before launching operations in India, Vavasi Telegence Pvt Ltd has created waves. The company has developed a new technology, which promises to provide high-speed data and voice services. In an interview with Manoj Gairola, the managing director of Vavasi Telegence Farid Arifuddin talks about his vision in the telecom sector and his plans in India. Excerpts:

The current controversy between GSM and CDMA players is for a greater share of the spectrum. Do you see any solution to this problem?

I wouldn’t know exactly what the solution would be like, but I think the first step has been taken by the Government to evolve a scientific and objective correlation between the spectrum allocation, its usage and the user base. There is no doubt that a turf war kind of environment has been created by a few players with vested interests to stymie and delay the process so that that an actual competitive environment is not created to protect the turf.

Even though India is adding the highest number of mobile subscribers every month, there is a big digital divide. A large part of the country is still untouched by the telecom revolution. How can we provide connectivity to everyone?

This is indeed an unfortunate reality that stares us in the face. We cannot afford to have an incorporative developmental agenda. While the urban teledensity is over 60 per cent and the rural teledensity is less than 3 per cent. This anomalous distortion has to be immediately checked and that can only be done through an environment that is competitive both in terms of price and technology.

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