By IANS
New Delhi : The Indian telecom regulator has extended till July 6 the deadline for comments from stakeholders on its consultation paper that seeks to restrict the number of service providers.
"Representations from some stakeholders have been received requesting an extension of the date for receiving written comments on this consultation paper," the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) said in a statement here Thursday.
"Keeping in view the importance of the issue and the need for wider participation of stakeholders in the consultation process, the Authority has decided to extend the last date for submission of written comments of all stakeholders up to 6th July 2007," it added.
The deadline earlier was June 27.
Industry bodies favour the government proposal and believe that consolidation of such a massive industry is really the need of hour.
But there are voices of protests too. Spice Telecom, a leading telecom service provider, has said the proposed move would hamper competition.
"We believe the consumer must have a choice. Let the consumer decide what is good for him in terms of the number of players," Umang Das, managing director, Spice Telecom, said this week.