Trai Sharma say states making telcos pay for laying infra is “perverse”

New Delhi: RS Sharma, chairman of Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai), on Wednesday said that State governments must understand that telecommunications infrastructure is an essential service similar to water and gas, and making operators pay for everything is a perverse idea.

“The telecom infra must become as essential as water pipes, electricity or the television infrastructure… However, when it comes to telecom, you start charging money from telecom service providers, which is so perverse I must say,” said Sharma while addressing the Connecting Bharat digital conference organised by the Broadband India Forum.