The Mahanagar Telecom Nigam Ltd (MTNL) complains that it has become a "victim" in the battle for supremacy between the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) and the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI), but the real victim is the consumer. When it was given the licence for cellular services, MTNL promised what would have been among the cheapest cellular services in the world. Cellphones would have ceased to be a status symbol and for once, a communications monopoly, normally used only to sweeten the global-issue pot, would have been put to an excellent public use. Unfortunately, the TRAI has also expanded what is essentially a battle over cellular services to scupper the government's Internet policy. Of course, this is not to say that an untrammelled DoT would be a very good idea. The DoT has been one of the most unrepentant votaries of telecom monopolies. Months after VSNL, another great monopolist, gave up its stranglehold over Internet gateway services, it continues to cling to its position ofprivilege. The DoT is responsible for the peculiar tariff structure by which a subscriber pays more for using his phone, and by which a long-distance call from Delhi to Chennai can be more expensive than one from New York to Chennai.The Indian Internet business will also suffer from this turn of events. The Internet policy is already delayed because it could have been announced at one go, instead of in dribs and drabs over the last year. Even so, it was available in its complete form late last year. The TRAI could have raised its objections a month ago, but it chose to do so precisely when private firms wishing to enter the business were getting ready to file their bids. It is a crucial time, when operators overseas are seriously monitoring the Indian market. The TRAI's action will convince most potential investors that India is not about to develop its own Internet services to any great extent. True, India has its own search engines, online supermarkets and a growing advertising business, but these arereally token services. Unless they increase in size and number, and unless the base of Indian Internet users increases to critical mass India, despite being one of the most digitally literate nations, will not be a part of the Internet revolution. Indian businesses will not have access to the Internet technologies which allow foreign companies to slash inventories, get better forecasting, reduce communications costs and sell over the Net. And the Indian citizen will remain cut off from the advantages of the information age.As for the difference in opinion over cellular services, setting aside the legalistic stuff, there is only one ground for disbarring MTNL: the level playing field would not be too level any more. But surely that discrepancy will be automatically resolved by market forces when MTNL loses its monopoly, as it is bound to, and is no longer able to cross-subsidise cell services. In the meantime, from the point of view of the subscriber's interest, it would have made excellent sense.
