Government lends ear to 5 telco's who make a house call

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Government lends ear to 5 telco's who make a house call

Anil Ambani is usually seen in the capital every Wednesday - meeting with government bosses and spending time with senior staff. But this Wednesday was different...

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Excerpts from India Business Hour on CNBC-TV18 Watch the full show » ALSO READ See latest News about Reliance Comm See previous management interviews See what other Experts & Brokerages are saying about Reliance Comm Reliance Comm BSE | NSE 31/05/12 Are Mutual Funds betting on Reliance Comm? Other Stocks in this news Bharti Telecom | Idea Cellular |

Anil Ambani is usually seen in the capital every Wednesday - meeting with government bosses and spending time with senior staff. But this Wednesday was different - quite unlike any other similar one in many months and years. By noon, news started trickling in of a power packed delegation of Telco bosses dropping in on equally powerful denizens of the government

"In my 17 years in the sector - I have never seen such a power call....to meet seven top functionaries starting with the Prime Minister and including Pranab Mukherjee, Salman Khurshid, Kapil Sibal, Anand Sharma among other officials - all in just one day, is historic," said one key aide involved in the Wednesday exercise who credits Reliance Communications chairman Anil Ambani for setting it all up.

And while none of the five bosses spoke, it was Sunil Mittal's late night remark that confirmed the new found bonhomie.

Mittal, the Chairman of Bharti Enterprises said, "You have to ask Anil, he is the master of ceremonies."

Between Ambani and Mittal and including the likes of Vittorio Collao of Vodafone, Kumarmanglam Birla of Idea Cellular and Ishat Hussain of Tata Sons, the five firms represent a market share of 80%.

All key and outstanding issues were addressed including a liberal merger regime that will further market consolidation, auction of 2G spectrum and revenue neutrality on all financial issues. Sustainability of decisions and sanctity of contracts were the other key points that came up in the talks.

The meetings witnessed an open dialogue as the government was more than willing to lend a keen ear. The first comment in every meeting, sources have told CNBC TV18, was that the government was very, very happy to see unity among the bosses, who have sparred openly in the past. For the UPA, which has seen its worst crisis on account of the 2G scandal, this could well be the best ringtone that it has heard ever.

A note of caution though - given the deep divide due to legacy decisions of the government, it may take more than one meeting to paper over all the cracks. But, the new found cheer could ensure that 2012 could well be the year when the bosses who run India's networks finally connect on the same call.