Affordable Wi-Fi: Telcos oppose entry of unlicensed players in TRAI's PDO model

Telecom companies have opposed Telecom Regulatory Authority of India's (TRAI) recommendations allowing unlicensed players to launch affordable Wi-Fi connectivity under ‘public data office’ (PDO) model. Industry body, Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI), in its letter to TRAI, has said that permitting the launch of PDOs just on the basis of registration is a threat for licensed telecom service providers as they are already facing tough financial conditions. 

COAI also claims that PDOs started by unlicensed companies can be a threat to data privacy and can compromise national security.

Rajan Mathews, DG, COAI, says "It creates an unlevel playing field. If the PDOs used unlicensed spectrum then obviously they are not paying for the spectrum. They then are outside the TRAI regulations, which means they do not have to follow QoS norms. If the PDO is down, nobody can complain, they are not subject to the legal enforcement requirement. But if an operator provides the same service even with the unlicensed spectrum they are still obligated to pay a license fee. So, it is impossible for us to compete. So it creates an unlevel playing field. If you want to bring them in, they should follow the same rules or give us the same  right in order to enable us to function along with them because we have made substantial investments in our network."

Reacting to COAI's concern over the entry of unlicensed players, the Telecom Secretary Aruna Sundararajan has said that both TRAI and DoT are responsible authorities and decision will be taken in this regard as per the public policy. 

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Sundararajan said, "TRAI and DoT are responsible authorities and as I already mentioned transparency and fairness is something which we have to uphold in public policy. Apart from that, we will have to look at what is the public policy objective that is to be served. And we will take a decision keeping these principles in view."