abhishreshthaa
Abhijeet S
There are a variety of other issues that are there in the Convergence Bill. We will only take up three of them. The first is that the government has a complete right to monitor any communications, either any telephone call or any email. There is no requirement of establishing the need for such tapping of private communications that can be reviewed. The desire of the government to tap is enough. This is a continuation of the Telegraph Act and has been considered outmoded in most countries, which earlier had such provisions.
The second is that there are no restrictions on cross-media monopolies. Though protection against monopolies in each area is one objective of the Bill, protection against cross-media monopolies has not been identified by the Bill as an objective, This is doubly important as unlike the TRAI Act, which left the monopoly aspects of telecommunications to the MRTP Act, there is no such provision here. Presumably, even anti-monopoly aspects of telecommunications are being brought under the purview of this Bill. The third is that any public authority is obligated to provide the right-of-way for laying cables once the Communications Commission has given a license to a party.
Already, two basic service operators and one broadband Internet service provider – Reliance – have dug up various cities. Such a blanket provision does not take into account that granting right-of-way impinges on the citizens’ convenience. But then, the citizen is hardly the focus of the reforms.
All in all, the Convergence Bill 2000, is a shoddy piece of work that addresses neither the need of the people nor the needs of growth of the sector. The attempt appears to is a narrow one of getting rid of the current telecom regulators while exercising some kind of control over the broadcast medium. The bill betrays the mindset of a police state while promoting the market and competition as the drivers of convergence. Its immediate effect will be to muzzle the media and build cross-media empires under the guise of convergence
The second is that there are no restrictions on cross-media monopolies. Though protection against monopolies in each area is one objective of the Bill, protection against cross-media monopolies has not been identified by the Bill as an objective, This is doubly important as unlike the TRAI Act, which left the monopoly aspects of telecommunications to the MRTP Act, there is no such provision here. Presumably, even anti-monopoly aspects of telecommunications are being brought under the purview of this Bill. The third is that any public authority is obligated to provide the right-of-way for laying cables once the Communications Commission has given a license to a party.
Already, two basic service operators and one broadband Internet service provider – Reliance – have dug up various cities. Such a blanket provision does not take into account that granting right-of-way impinges on the citizens’ convenience. But then, the citizen is hardly the focus of the reforms.
All in all, the Convergence Bill 2000, is a shoddy piece of work that addresses neither the need of the people nor the needs of growth of the sector. The attempt appears to is a narrow one of getting rid of the current telecom regulators while exercising some kind of control over the broadcast medium. The bill betrays the mindset of a police state while promoting the market and competition as the drivers of convergence. Its immediate effect will be to muzzle the media and build cross-media empires under the guise of convergence