Communication minister Arun Shourie said the Group of Ministers on telecom would meet first on September 25.
The department of telecom, in the meantime, would submit a detailed report to the GoM on the pros and cons of the eight point agenda of the group in 10 days.
Shourie said the GoM, set up by Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee on his request, would be provided with details including options on each of the issue on which a decision would be taken.
Speaking at the sidelines of a seminar on dispute resolution in the telecom sector organised by the Telecom Dispute Settlement Appellate Tribunal, Shourie said the government might not come out with a new policy or vision statement but instead take hard decisions one each of these issues raised in the terms of reference of the ministerial group.
The terms of reference includes ensuring adequate release of spectrum for telecom sector and recommending measures for faster growth of connectivity in the rural areas, resolving the issues relating to the enactment of the Convergence Bill and suggesting interim measures for achieving convergence and enforcing limited mobility within the short distance charging area for WLL services of basic services.
Shourie said that operators should stop opposing technological advancement and show self restraint.
"Operators must get out of the mindset of keeping competition out by manipulating the executive and regulators. We also have to get out of user and service-specific licence regime. Things have changed in technology and the services must reflect those changes," Shourie said.
The minister said that the regulators, tribunals and policy makers must keep in mind that any decision taken by them would have an impact on services for the next 20 years.
"We must not make policies stone edicts or sweeping vision statements. We must get into a mindset of reviewing our policies on a regular basis and widen our minds to adopt changes.
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