WiMax Forum urges Indian Government for broadband wireless auction

By siliconindia   |   Wednesday, 15 July 2009, 21:12 IST   |    2 Comments
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WiMax Forum urges Indian Government for broadband wireless auction
Bangalore: WiMax Forum has requested the Indian government to conduct auctions for broadband wireless services, as delay in doing so is resulting in loss of revenue. "Immediate auction of BWA spectrum is essential. India cannot afford to revisit the auction policy finalized in December 2008 covering base price, spectrum license validity, schedule and key parameters like roll out. Every six months of delay in auction process to complete translates into $1 billion loss to the country," said C. S. Rao, Chairman, WiMax Forum in India in a letter addressed to Department of Telecom (DOT). Rao also said that it should be mandatory for web portals such as Facebook, YouTube and Twitter to locally host their servers as that will ensure a good quality of experience and good quality of service, while minimising huge loss of revenue on international requirements. India also needs to evolve and drive mandatory local hosting policy, he added. WiMax forum also feels that government should encourage small and medium enterprises to develop ICT applications covering e-education, e-health, e-travel and agriculture. "A proper legal framework needs to be put in place by the government giving authenticity to online education programs by extending accreditation to distant education based diploma and degree courses. This would be a great boost for broadband proliferation in the country," the Forum said. The Forum has already appealed to the DOT to reduce customs duties and taxes on broadband mobile devices to improve its affordability. It has also called for network policy to evolve a lowest cost per bit based national fibre network and digital microwave radio.