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US telecoms industry asks India for review
06 October 2011
Telecommunications Industry Association urges India to review capital requirements and licence fees
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India
TIA
Telecommunications Industry Association
The US Telecommunications Industry Association has called on the Indian government to “re-evaluate the basis for license application fees, capitalisation requirements and bank guarantees as it applies to telecommunications service provider licences”.
The TIA, which is eyeing the vast potential in by India in the telecoms sector, believes that application fees must reflect the cost of processing an application, according to the Economic Times, an Indian paper.
The TIA said: “While bank guarantees are appropriate in limited cases, such requirements should reflect the scope of business intended to be offered and should be a temporary, not permanent requirement. India should seek to reduce high licensing fees and capitalisation requirements as they reduce the amount of resources available to service providers to invest in building out their networks and connecting India's vast population.”
The TIA also wrote to the US Trade Representative asking the US government to continue engaging with India on the government's planned policies related to in-country security assurance testing along with black-listing foreign telecom products citing security concerns. The association expressed its concerns over the “discriminatory” policy proposals being considered by India aimed at boosting manufacturing and innovation in its domestic ICT sector.
The TIA said: “In addition to the negative consequences for meeting India’s ICT connectivity goals and hampering its ability to benefit from global collaboration, these policies run counter to India's longstanding international trade commitments.”
It added that it was disappointed by the Indian Planning Commission’s draft proposal which reserves 30% of all electronic procurements by the government for locally manufactured products. The TIA said: “If implemented, this policy will undermine the country's ability to innovate, will impose discriminatory and unrealistic requirements on companies seeking to sell to the Indian government.” GTB