Trai extends submission deadline for rationalisation of telecom entry fee, bank guarantee paper

Kolkata: The sector regulator has extended the deadlines for stakeholder comments and counter-comments for its discussion paper on rationalisation of entry fees and bank guarantees (BGs) for telecom services.

In its late-July discussion paper, the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) had sought views on whether entry fees for telecom permits must be cut and whether the performance and financial guarantees should be merged for all telecom permits.

The regulator had also sought views on whether a uniform entry fee must be levied for various service authorisations under a unified licence (UL) and a virtual network operator (VNO) licence. It had also sought views on the methodology of computing a merged bank guarantee for various telecom permits and a checklist of associated financial/performance parameters. The regulator also wanted suggestions on whether a merged BG should be applicable to both new entrants and existing licence-holders.