The Silicon Review ^Asia

The Broadband India Forum (BIF) is all set to unbundle various layers in telecom like infrastructure, network and services that will offer scope for sharing of resources, including networks, leading to its optimum utilization and more revenue streams for service providers. An unbundled framework would, however, require adequate safeguards to protect competition and innovation; BIF stated adding that network providers should be required to provide access to their network in a fair, reasonable, time-bound, and non-discriminatory manner to all players in the service delivery layer, in such a regime.

The Broadband India Forum (BIF), in its submissions to the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) said “layered licensing” would help strengthen the service delivery by improving quality of service. TRAI had floated a final discussion paper on enabling unbundling of specific layers of telecom like infrastructure, network, services, through differential licensing. TRAI sought industry’s views on whether network services layer and service delivery layer need to be separated, by introducing specific license for network element alone.

For an entity operating in both layers, a clear structural separation of the two parts and clear accounting separation would be needed, BIF said. Suitable safeguards to protect competition and innovation are a must, it said. In particular, rules need to specify that integrated entity cannot offer more favorable terms to its own service delivery section, as compared to other competing service providers