The telecom sector has witnessed rapid changes in the last five years. There have been far-reaching developments in Information Technology (IT), consumer electronics and media industries across the globe. Convergence of both markets and technologies is a reality that is forcing realignment of...

Even as spectrum management regimes are moving from a command and control regime to a flexible use regime, new technological developments are suggesting that there are significant opportunities in managing large swathes of spectrum as a common property resource, in addition to flexible use. The...

The recent Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) norms on mergers and acquisitions (M&A) create a two-pronged upper bound for the merged entity based on spectrum share and market share. The spectrum share, defined in terms of share of second generation (2G) spectrum held, is set at a low...

The study probes cointegration and Granger causality between telephone connections and economic activity for India using annual data for the time span 1980–81 to 2006–07. Empirical results fail to establish any cointegrating relationship among the variables. The heterogeneity of penetration...

In most countries, the command and control approach is usually the starting point of the liberalization of the telecommunications industry, which had previously been entirely in the public sector. The command and control approach is useful for achieving early roll-out and rapid growth. However,...

With more than 500 million subscribers, India is the second largest mobile phone market in the world after China. With an average of 15 operators having been given licenses and 8 operators already providing the second generation (2G) mobile services in each service area, the Indian mobile market...

This paper outlines the various stages of spectrum policy in India and highlights the underlying principle of maximal usage of spectrum advocated in the policy. It argues that allocative efficiency is a more appropriate policy measure and illustrates the absence of allocative efficiency in the...

As broadband becomes an integral part of universal service schemes in emerging economies, the lines between universal access to telephony and universal access to computing are blurring. This article focuses on the social inclusiveness of publicly funded telecentres in India. In contrast to the...