TRAI

Arjun P R Ram Mohan M P Ratnavel Subramanian Surya Upadhya

Agenda
Introduction Current telecom scenario The two sides of the telecom business Functions of TRAI Purchasing Spectrum Surfing against the tide Benefits of TRAI Conclusion

Introduction
Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI)
Created by an act of parliament, TRAI in 1997.

Independent regulator of the telecommunication business in India. It makes sure that both the companies and the consumers are equally benefitted.

Current Telecom Scenario

Telecom includes many services like
Fixed Line Phones (Copper, Optical Fibre and Wireless) Mobile Phones (GSM, CDMA, HSPA etc) Narrowband (Voice, Internet, Fax etc) Broadband (High Speed Internet, Video Conference etc)

India has become an attractive market for a few reasons such as:
Fastest growing free market democracy Cost advantage in product development and back-office processing Large talent pool

Current Telecom Scenario

What The Companies Desire

Higher margins Compromise-able quality Manipulated market

Needs Of The Consumers

Affordable prices Acceptable quality Measures to protect their interests

Functions Of TRAI

Surfing Against The Tide

TRAI goes through various difficulties in order to achieve its goal. Few of them are:
Competitive Tariff VAS applications on devices Spectrum management Broadband expansion in rural sector Content regulation of data Reduce circles to relax roaming Alternate technologies (Solar/Wind power back up)

Purchasing Spectrum

The 2G Spectrum Scam Companies to be allotted in first-come-first-serve basis. Higher officials of TRAI along with the telecom minister was tipped off.

Benefits of TRAI
Booming IT sector. Easy access knowledge base to common individuals. Access to internet and other services in the rural areas. Attempts to curb piracy. Effective protection against terrorism/civil riots. To cease spam SMS. Introduction of fair usage policy. Mobile Number Portability (MNP).

Conclusion
TRAI has enabled India to reach such heights that would have been almost impossible. Though hard efforts were taken at each step, there are few cases like the infamous 2G spectrum scam where TRAI has failed to perform its duties.