India’s telecom regulator, the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) and telecom licensor, the Department of Telecommunications (DoT), are both working towards opening up internet access services, after a dispute between the two stalled the process on February 16. TRAI judged as invalid DoT’s internet policy, as the licensor had not sought its recommendation before announcing a new service. DoT went to court, and was allowed to continue with the process, until the final court verdict on April 13. TRAI hopes to finalize a consultative proposal on the internet policy within six weeks. DoT (which is also the monopoly internet and national fixed line provider) has asked for weekly reports from its offices all over the country on responses received from interested private operators to the issue of application forms. In New Delhi alone, 42 application forms already been snapped up since the court’s directive on March 5, 1998 where DoT had challenged the TRAI’s verdict and won a stay order for status quo on the proceedings.
