"3G is passe'," JS Sarma, Chairman of India's Telecom Regulator TRAI said at the CII Content Summit on Friday. "The pace of change is such, and the magnitude of change is such that one needs to run to stay in place. This seminar is about content, but the nature of content will also change with the nature of carriage. 3G is being rolled out, but the good thing is that the switchover from 3G to LTE is mostly software driven, so that the switchover is easier as compared to 3G from 2G." The TRAI expects 4G-LTE to be launched shortly, by next year, and Sarma said that the TRAI expects to finalize its 4G recommendation by June. During the conference, Sarma pointed out that Mobile Value Added Services are likely to drive growth - for some companies(ED: Tata Telesevices Maharashtra, for one), they already account for 15-16% of revenue, and the fields in which the telecom companies will enter are going to vary: "In many cases they're tying up with banks. Value added services are going to be a very very significant element of our communications. TRAI is going to come up with a consultation paper on VAS." On Content And Internet Regulation "In terms of content, how do you control the internet? That is baffling and challenging, and it is frought with issues of freedom and security. Security in terms of physical security and others. This will have to be studied over the course of next few months or…
