Arun Shourie, Union minister for information technology & divestment, says no licensing system should come in the way of the country's progress. During a break in the golden jubilee function organised by the Press Trust of India employees in Ahmedabad on Saturday, Shourie shared his thoughts on the Indian telecom industry with Joydeep Ray.

Excerpts

On how long the fight between the GSM and CDMA telecom operators will continue:

I believe the fight, which has been going on for a long time now, is ending. It is now where it should be -- the issues are with the regulators and they are working these out one after another in the interest of this growing industry. I believe this fight will not go on for long.

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On whether the controversy over limited mobility is also getting sorted out:

One by one these issues are being sorted out. The present scenario is better, and competition is benefiting the consumer. The companies are also not interested in wasting time by raising issues because the telecom market in India is growing faster than ever before.

On whether the licensing system good for the operators, the industry and the consumers:

My straight answer is no licensing system should come in the way of growth, especially in a fast growing industry like telecommunications. We have lost 25 years because of the licensing system, which was playing the role of major obstacle. It should not have happened.

On whether the telecom players are trying to influence policy making and wooing the bureaucracy:

The disappointment among the operators today is because they have understood that the days of impressing ministers and bureaucrats are over. So they are a bit frustrated. The regulators are also playing a major role. So, overall, there is a major change.

On unified licensing:

I only know that there must be a solution and we are at present working to solve the issue. But it will take some time. I had meetings recently with Deepak Parekh of HDFC and K V Kamath of ICICI Bank and requested them to work out a way towards solving issues on unified licensing. It is being done to ensure a level playing for operators.

On the time it will take to sort out the issues:

I cannot say how long it will take to sort out the issues related to unified licensing. It may be two years or less than that -- or maybe more, but we are trying to expedite things.