Regulation and Liberalization in ICT and Telecom Services Empowering the Legal Framework Competition

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Regulation and Liberalization in ICT and Telecom
ServicesEmpowering the Legal FrameworkCompetit
ion Act vs TRAI Act Virat BhatiaManaging
DirectorATT South Asia
New Delhi Wednesday, 20 September, 2005
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Competition in Telecom

• Method of Introduction
• Timing
• Terms of Entry
• Industry Structure
• Sustaining a Competitive Landscape
• MAs
• Incumbent Power and Anti-competitive Practices

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Main Tools with TRAI Section 11

• Interconnection
• Commercial Terms
• Technical Terms
• Tariffs
• Price Caps
• Cost Constituents
• Forbearance
• Recommendatory Powers
• Need and Timing
• Terms and Conditions
• Efficiency
• Type and use of technology

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Competition vs Sector Specfic Regulation

• Common goals, but different interventions.
• Defusing market power versus reducing market
  power
• Monitoring behavior versus structural remedies
• Ex-ante versus post-ante enforcement
• Proactive versus complaint based
• Sector-specific goals versus general goals

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Competition Commissions Focus

• Pursuing static and dynamic economic efficiency
• Competition will produce significant benefits
  across sectors
• Constituents of competitive market and what
  threatens it
• Rely on structural remedies
• Wind down when competition is sufficiently strong
• Broader acceptance amongst institutional investors

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The Burning Question

• How will the current TRAI Act, 1997 reconcile
  itself with the proposed Competition Commission
  Act?

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We need

• Platform for engagement and public discourse
• Clarity on regulatory jurisdiction
• Clarity on dispute resolution
• Clarity of issues and approach
• Clarity on migration path