TRAI to announce date for telemarketing guidelines soon

Telecom industry watchdog TRAI on Wednesday said it will "soon" announce a new date for implementation of new telemarketing guidelines which will end the trauma of pesky calls for unsuspecting phone-users.

"I understand that DoT (Department of Telecom) should be able to take a decision in about 15-days. We (TRAI) should be able to announce a date soon...I don't think it will take long," Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) Chairman J S Sarma told reporters.

TRAI, which was supposed to implement the guidelines by March 21, had postponed it without giving a new date.

According to the telecom watchdog, the implementation is getting delayed as DoT is yet to submit a series of landline numbers to it which will make it difficult for telemarketers to operate from mobile networks.

The new regulation, which calls for restricting unwanted calls and imposition of steep penalties on offenders, was first supposed to be implemented from January 1 this year but has been delayed thrice till now.

Sarma also said that TRAI will issue a discussion paper on the 4G (fourth generation) mobile services "in a couple of months".

"We expect to complete the recommendations made on equipment manufacturing, green telecommunications as well as infrastructure policies by month end after which we will take up 4G," he said.

Along with 4G, TRAI will also be holding discussions on other subjects like IUC charges and reforming and liberalisation of spectrum, he said.

Sarma also said that he expected Wimax and broadband wireless access (BWA) services, the next step in telephony after the recently introduced 3G, be launched by operators by the year end or in early 2012.