Infrastructure

">

face="Times New Roman" size="2">It was the most happening year for communications

infrastructure. Among all sectors in Indian business, this caught everyone’s

imagination as the golden opportunity as players–big and small, telecom, and

non-telecom–all rushed in to be a part of it. In the last three months–the first

quarter of the millennium year, the activities have gone up exponentially.

What set the ball rolling was the

announcement of the ISP guidelines in end 1997, which was withdrawn because of a tussle

between the DoT and the TRAI. Though grossly inadequate, the policy draft set the motion

in the right direction, making the prospective players hopeful. From then onwards, it was

perceived as only a matter of time. The setting up of the National IT Task Force and its

subsequent recommendations were also great milestones. Then came the Prime Minister’s

Council On Trade and Industry. For the first time, its different subject groups were

headed by captains from the industry. And the subject group on infrastructure was headed

by none other than the CEO of India’s first name in business, the Tatas. The Ratan

Tata Committee made some radical recommendations. In telecom, the Group on

Telecommunications (GoT), which was set up with the specific task of formulating a telecom

policy that is in sync with the changing realities. For the first time, the DoT was not

calling the shots in a telecom-related issue. That, in itself, was a great morale booster.

The GoT actually came out with a forward-looking telecom policy. By that time, the ISP

policy had started moving, with hundreds of prospective ISPs raring to join the bandwagon.