Entry, other fees on 3G will kill the services: Sunil Mittal

New Delhi, Jun 13 (UNI) Bharti Airtel Limited Chairman and Managing Director Sunil Mittal today said India must seamlessly migrate to Third Generation (3G) services without an entry ticket or any other fees.

However, Mr Mittal said that if the government does put a price on the services, the amount should be minimal.

On the much-hyped debate as to whether 3G services should be priced at all or not, Mr Mittal said, ''We should not not load the 3G services with an entry ticket or any other fee as it will kill the services before they make a mark in India.'' However, Mr Mittal said that if the government does decide to put a price on 3G, then it will have to be paid for by the industry.

''The nation will benefit many times over with the introduction of these services, so a small entry fee should not make much of a difference,'' he said and added that all revenues coming from 3G will be shared by the government.

He requested the government not to put a tax on the services.

3G is a radio communications technology that provides high-speed access mobile access to internet-based services including entertainment, information and electronic commerce (e-commerce) services.

The services will add an invaluable mobile dimension to video-conferencing, and interactive application sharing.

While speaking to reporters here at the GSM Association press meet announcing the milestone two billion GSM users worldwide, Mr Mittal said about the foray of 3G handsets into India, ''We aim to reduce the prices of 3G handsets by almost 50 per cent by next year, so that they become available to a larger range of people.'' Asked about a tentative price band for the 3G handsets, Mr Mittal said, a customer should spend lower than Rs 5,000 at the time of the launch, an amount which should be brought down to Rs 2,500 eventually.

These handsets are currently priced at Rs 10,000 and above.

On speculatins that the services will be restricted only to the elitist class who can afford these high-end prices, Mr Mittal cited the example of how mobile phones, meant exclusively for the rich 7-8 years back, are now carried by people belnging to the middle and lower class.

''3G phones will go the same way as mobiles have over the last few years and will be affordable and available to the comman man on the street. They are going to be mass market phones.'' At present GSMA has a 82 per cent market share worldwide, a number that increased from 70 per cent last year, and global investment continues at 50 billion dollars per year.

The GSM subscriber base has touched the two billion mark this month over a period of two and a half years, and India's phenomenal contribution has been 80 million subscribers.

UNI RA CS KN1815