‘People felt I first privatised, and was now deregulating’

What has been the single-biggest achievement of independent regulation of the telecom sector?

Bringing down telecom tariffs and introducing competition in the sector is the main achievement of the regulator thus far. The earliest Trai orders were to remove the cost-plus regulation, and this has come about everywhere except in rural markets where tariffs are still regulated to an extent. Cost-plus regulations keep competition at bay and are anti-entrepreneurship. There was an urgent need to remove them in 2003, and the regulator did that.

Maybe there was opposition to regulation from various quarters because Trai was introducing change in the system. Change automatically makes people averse. But then, I was earlier Secretary in the Disinvestment Ministry and later Trai Chairman, so people may have felt that I had first privatised and was now deregulating—that could be a reason.

What should the regulator do once there is competition and tariffs are low?

There is always a lot for a network regulator to do. In telecom, tariffs are low and teledensity is growing, but the network needs to grow. Only 10-20 per cent of rural areas have mobile tower coverage. Besides, you need NetGen networks which are more efficient. You also don’t have broadband and cable coverage in India, which have to grow within the regulatory ambit.

Is that why your last recommendation paper says the Convergence Bill needs re-introduction?

You need to create a market in India so that anti-competitive practices don’t happen in the nascent cable and wireless industry. So that content can be shared in a non-discriminatory manner and a monopoly is avoided. There will be a single pipe or wire on which voice (telecom), internet and television will be delivered in India.