Telecom minister Kapil Sibal on
Monday said that mobile phone subscribers will not have to payroaming charges from next year. "From
next year. Our secretary has told you that it will be free from
next year," Sibal said here in response to a query on the timing of
removing roaming charges as proposed in the National Telecom Policy
2012.
The minister was speaking to the
media on the sidelines of the curtain raiser event of India Internet Governance
Conference. NTP 2012, approved in May, aims to abolish roaming charges and allow
mobile phone subscribers to use same number across country without having to
pay extra charges for services once they are
outside their telecom circle.
Meanwhile, telecom secretary R
Chandrashekhar said the Department of Telecom (DoT) is working on Notice
Inviting Applications for spectrum auction after which it will work
on unified licence (UL) guidelines - also a part of the NTP 2012.
"We are first going to attend to all
issues linked to auction. The moment NIA is issued this week, we will focus on
UL. After details of full UL is worked out, the modalities for free
roaming will follow," he said. As per the schedule, NIA will be issued on
September 28.
Source : The Times of India, Sept 24, 2012