India’s Telecoms Minister Kapil Sibal (pictured) has outlined a number of new policies he hopes to include in the country’s forthcoming new telecoms regulatory bill. The bill – due to come into force later this year – aims to refresh India’s increasingly outdated current framework, which has been heavily criticised in the wake of the country’s 2G licensing scandal. The biggest overhaul is expected to concern the current merger and acquisition rules in the telecoms sector, which currently do not allow one company to hold 10 percent or more in two competing operators in a single service zone. Critics have called this rule over–restrictive and a barrier to much-needed consolidation in the sector. Sibal also suggested that spectrum should be delinked from licences, and that licenses should last for just ten years (rather than the current 20) and be priced in a “uniform” way. India’s current telecoms laws have been in place since 1999.

In other news, it was reported that India’s Telecom Ministry is set to cancel the licences of mobile operators Idea Cellular and Spice in five states for failing to roll-out services within the stipulated time. According to the Economic Times, the regulator (Trai) has recommended that the Department of Telecom (DoT) cancel the licences of Idea in Karnataka and Punjab circles and that of Spice in Maharashtra, Haryana and Andhra Pradesh. According to a DoT note, “As per Trai’s recommendation, as on date (December 22, 2010) these licensees are in violation of terms and conditions pertaining to rollout obligations.” Idea acquired Spice in 2008 but the two firms are still waiting for approval from the DoT to proceed with the merger.