Deciding on optimal level of regulation a challenge: Sibal

New Delhi: While acknowledging the grouse of telecom companies that excessive regulation of the Telecom sector could affect growth in the sector, Telecom Minister Kapil Sibal, however, said some amount of regulation was required to prevent the abuse of existing facilities.
“If it is an over-regulated environment, then you cannot get growth. If it’s under-regulated, then you get abused. So deciding on an optimal level is a challenge,” Mr Sibal said in his inaugural address at an international workshop on regulatory frameworks.
Speaking at the workshop , organised by Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI), Mr Sibal, however, stressed that the Telecom companies too needed to align their profit making motives with the interest of the consumers.
He cautioned that growth of the telecom sector would be hurt if companies did not align their profit-making motives with the national interest and that such a scenario could lead to over-regulation of the sector.
“If national interest is on one platform and you are on a profit-making platform, nothing is going to work. If the growth does not benefit the country, then there will be regulations,” Mr Sibal said at the inaugural session of the workshop, where the chairman of TRAI, J S Sarma, Chairman of the Reliance Group Anil Ambani and CEO of Bharti Airtel Sunil Bharti Mittal also participated.