Telecom Ministry constituted a committee to revive Telecom sector

Union Telecom Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad had constituted a committee chaired by Telecom Secretary Aruna Sundararajan to spell out revival plans for Telecom sector.  The committee headed by Telecom Secretary Aruna Sundararajan would submit its report in 2 weeks’ time.
Aruna Sundararajan is India’s Telecom Secretary and Chairman of the Telecom Commission.  Aruna Sundararajan Committee will look into  the entire issue of removing ambiguities in ease of doing business and also to revisit the whole issue of SUC.

Committee’s purpose:
The committee will review levies, including spectrum usage charge (SUC), and promote Ease of Doing Business (EDB) in telecom sector. Reduction of levies and fees, as licence fee, SUC and universal service levy, has been a long-standing demand of Telecom industry. In case of any issues which require clarity, committee has been directed to seek views of Solicitor General. Committee would also look into previous recommendations provided by sectoral regulator TRAI (Telecom Regulatory Authority of India) on the issue. The Government of India is also looking into revival plan for state-owned BSNL (Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited) and MTNL (Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Limited).