Re: Monopoly of VSNL!!!!!!.

[vamsi@siliconcorp.com]

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There are really 2 fundamental problems with Indian Telecom:

1.  Can the Government be both the regulator and the service provider (leading to
an unbalanced/unchecked power structure)?

2.  Can the Indian Government seek rent in the form of license fees on Telecom
Services (or any form of data transmission) under a constitution that guarantees
free and "equal" speech to its citizens?

Sincerely,
Vamsi M.

Npsingh123@aol.com wrote:

> ---------------------------------------------------------------------
> Please help make the Manifesto better, or accept it, and propagate it!
> ---------------------------------------------------------------------
> In a message dated 11/8/00 9:18:47 AM Central Standard Time,
> perdi420@yahoo.com writes:
>
> << As far as voice is concerned, it is possible that this may have to do with
>  the guaranteed monopoly that VSNL has been granted to carry voice etc out of
>  the country.  I know VSNL went to court for compensation when the current
>  govt. tried to revoke the guarantee, but I did not follow the proceedings
>  later on...  Any news on that?
>
>  Thanx
>  AP >>
>
> Government's guaranteed monoply to VSNL for carrying voice!!!!!????  What
> convoluted minds were behind that concept? There is that famous proverb
> "Andha Baante Revrhi..." in the North which for the rest of the Indians means
> that when the Blind man was asked to equally distribute sweets, he kept on
> giving them to himself again and again. How can the Government give its own
> organ i.e VSNL a monoply and then take itself to court for it. There is no
> legal, economic or strategic justification for restricting private operators
> from providing voice over net or cable internet and other evolving
> technologies.
>
> I believe that the basis of such policies  (as Mr. Inderjit Barua has pointed
> out earlier) is the colonial mindset of our ruling elite who still govern
> like they used to during the British Raj. Otherwise why else would government
> stop people from owning walkie talkies till some 10 years ago. Why else is
> photography prohibited only in airports in India. Why was it considered
> treason to want to have a privately funded Radio Station till 5 years ago, if
> not to suit the whims of governments that did not want to forego total
> control of the media. Private banks have not been allowed to flourish in
> India and those that did grow were quickly nationalized so that government
> controlled the flow of capital. It is amazing that even peddlars in our
> cities are either required to have a license or pay hafta to the local
> police.
>
> I suspect that liberalisation in India has been forced upon us by WTO and
> World Bank and other foreign lenders and our own governments are at best
> coming around to the ideas of free enterprise very reluctantly.
> Liberalization today exists much more for deep pocketed foreign investors who
> can pay crores upon crores of license fees while our own enterpreneurs are
> still facing much the same problems they faced 20 years ago.
>
> We need constitutional safegaurds against excessive and arbitrary regulation.
>
> N.P. Singh
>
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> This is the National Debate on System Reform.       debate@indiapolicy.org
> Rules, Procedures, Archives:            ../debate/
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--
Sincerely,
Vamsi M.



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This is the National Debate on System Reform.       debate@indiapolicy.org
Rules, Procedures, Archives:            ../debate/
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