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NTP'99 - 3.1.2 Fixed Service
Providers
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The Fixed Service Providers (FSP) shall be freely permitted to
establish ‘last mile’ linkages to provide fixed services and carry
long distance traffic within their service area without seeking an
additional licence. Direct interconnectivity between FSP’s and any
other type of service provider (including another FSP) in their area
of operation and sharing of infrastructure with any other type of
service provider shall be permitted. Interconnectivity between
service providers in different service areas shall be reviewed in
consultation with TRAI and the same would be announced by August 15,
1999 as a part of the structure for opening up of national long
distance. The FSP shall be allowed to directly interconnect with the
VSNL after the opening up of national long distance from January 1,
2000. The FSP may also utilize last mile linkages or transmission
links within its service area made available by other service
providers. The FSP shall be free to provide, in his service area of
operation, all types of fixed services including voice and non-voice
messages and data services, utilizing any type of network equipment,
including circuit and/or packet switches, that meet the relevant
International Telecommunication Union (ITU) / Telecommunication
Engineering Center (TEC) standards.
The FSP shall be granted separate licence, on a non-exclusive basis,
for each service area of operation. Licences would be awarded for an
initial period of twenty years which shall be extended by additional
periods of ten years thereafter. The FSPs shall be eligible to
obtain licences for any number of service areas.
While market forces will ultimately determine the number of fixed
service providers, during transition, number of entrants have to be
carefully decided to eliminate non-serious players and allow new
entrants to establish themselves. Therefore, the option of entry of
multiple operators for a period of five years for the service areas
where no licences have been issued is adopted. The number of players
and their mode of selection will be recommended by TRAI in a
time-bound manner.
The FSP licencees would be required to pay a one time entry fee. All
FSP licencees shall pay licence fee in the form of a revenue share.
It is proposed that the appropriate level of entry fee and
percentage of revenue share and basis for selection of new operators
for different service areas of operation would be recommended by
TRAI in a time-bound manner, keeping in view the objectives of the
New Telecom Policy.
As in the case for cellular, for WLL also, availability of
appropriate frequency spectrum as required is essential not only for
providing optimal bandwidth to every operator but also for entry of
additional operators. It is proposed to review the spectrum
utilisation from time to time keeping in view the emerging scenario
of spectrum availability, optimal use of spectrum, requirements of
market, competition and other interest of public.
The WLL frequency shall be awarded to the FSPs requiring the same,
based on the payment of an additional one time fee over and above
the FSP entry fee. The basis for determining the entry fee and the
basis for assigning WLL frequency shall be recommended by the TRAI.
All FSP operators utilising WLL shall pay a licence fee in the form
of a revenue share for spectrum utilization. This percentage of
revenue share shall be over and above the percentage payable for the
FSP licence. It is proposed that the appropriate level of entry fee
and percentage of revenue share for WLL for different service areas
of operation will be recommended by TRAI in a time-bound manner,
keeping in view the objectives of the New Telecom Policy.
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