What about non-sector specific regulation? New Zealand experimented with non-sector specific regulation relying on Competition Commission of the country. This led to protracted litigations and disputes on interconnection and network access issues slowing down the progress of the sector. Finally, New Zealand enacted ‘Telecommunication Act’ in December 2000 and created a Telecommunication Commission within the Competition Commissionx. In India, TRAI Act was amended in January 2000, to remove some of the shortcomings observed earlier. The legislation aimed at, inter alia, protection of interests of service providers and consumers of telecom sector. With this amendment, recommendatory functions were separated from enforcement functions. A separate Telecom Disputes Settlement and Appellate Tribunal (TDSAT) were set up with both original and appellate jurisdiction. It became mandatory for the central government to seek prior recommendations of the TRAI before introduction of new services. TRAI’s power to issue directions was restricted to only its enforcement functions. Direct appeal to the Supreme Court of India against an order of TRAI was provided for. Thus, neutrality of Indian telecom regulatory regime was ensured through reliance on multiple agencies for conflict resolution. TRAI had a proven record of maintaining neutrality. It had challenged several decisions of the Government of Indiaxi. In tune with the international development and evolution of technology, The Communication Convergence Bill 2001 was introduced in the Parliament and is under consideration of the Standing Committee of Parliament on Telecom and IT. ‘The Bill aims at promoting, facilitating and developing, in an orderly manner, the carriage and content of communications (including broadcasting, telecommunications and multimedia), to facilitate development of a national infrastructure for an information based society, and to enable access thereto. It also seeks to provide a choice of services to the people with a view to promoting plurality of news, views and information’ xii. Thus, regulatory regime in 2020 will be overarching, based on convergence, which apart from paving the way to a fullgrown information society will enhance growth and productivity of telecommunications and IT through exploitation of economies of scope and coverage.
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