NEW DELHI: Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) chairman Rahul Khullar has said Trai was making efforts to move towards a lighter regulatory regime.

Khullar also said that India urgently needed a new convergence law for the industry to consolidate. As technology was advancing at a rapid pace, there is a need to respond to it accordingly and encourage use of new devices and technologies.

Also, it is imperative to create opportunities for providers of value added services and create for them an environment that is conducive for them to operate and grow.

Khullar pointed out that a lighter regulatory regime would take time "as there is legal ambiguity which needs to be dealt with and then trust has to be built."

"A regulator?s job is not to formulate radical policies. He responds to the policy framework provided by the Government, responds to the changes in market conditions and responds to the changes in technologies," he said.

On enforcement of regulation, Khullar said that if a regulation is implemented, he would ensure that it is enforced as well. at the session on ?Regulatory The Trai chairman felt now is the time for industries which are on the downside to look for opportunities in other sectors. The market should open itself to mergers and acquisitions and spectrum trading, he said.

Speaking on ?Enabling stakeholders consolidation towards sustainable growth?, Nikolai Dobberstein, partner - communications, media & technology practice at A T Kearney said the telecom industry holds a debt of Rs 1,860 billion and it was time for some operators to exit. In the aviation industry, Kingfisher had to face the option of either exiting the market or infusing capital. The telecom sector is also heading the same way, he said.

Dobberstein opined that spectrum should be made available easily including 3G and 4G and no constraints should be on acquisition of any spectrum. The government could also consider privatisation of MTNL and BSNL. He added that the National Telecom Policy - 2012 is a forward looking policy and it can take telecom to the next level if implemented successfully. He was speaking at the India Telecom 2012 conference, organised by FICCI in association with the Department of Telecommunications in the Ministry of Communications & Information Technology.

On ?Regulation to foster business environment and stimulate investment?, Suhail Nathani, partner at Economic Laws Practice, highlighted the opportunities in the world of internet. Internet contributes $30 billion to GDP and is projected to contribute $100 billion by 2015. Today, there are 120 million internet users and this number is estimated to reach half a billion by 2015.

To attract investments, the complexity in obtaining licenses needs to be reduced. Reduction in legal ambiguity in copyright laws and a strong underlying legal system for contractual enforcement is a must. Also, clarity in tax laws and a robust and consistent enforcement mechanism is required, said Nathani.

Raman Jit Singh Chima, senior policy analyst at Google, speaking on ?Regulatory Frameworks in the Internet Age?, remarked, "On internet, more than 76 hours of videos are uploaded per hour and 90 per cent of it becomes online within a minute and is accessible to everyone around the world. This shows how powerful internet is as a medium to share information and knowledge."

Chima said there is a need to promote broadband, meaningful access to the internet, increase bandwidth, connectivity and quality of services and must fulfill consumers? interest and win users? trust. Also, use of new technology must be encouraged and should promote entrepreneurship.