Bangalore: Asserting that there was enough market for all the players, Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) chairman Pradeep Baijal on August 10 said that efforts should be made to move away from litigation and concentrate on growth of the sector.

"We should not be bogged down by the legal controversy. All of us must find a way. We must get out of litigation and get on to growth.... The scope is enormous," Baijal told reporters on the sidelines of the International Conference on "Managing in Turbulent Times", organised by the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India and Sri Lanka.

Stating that the mobile market was growing at 1.5 million every month in India, more than the one million of China, he said that efforts should be made to get out of the problem and the government must "find a way for going forward".

Reiterating that TRAI's role was to encourage "competition and growth", Baijal said there was great scope for the industry. The industry "will look after itself".

He said studies had revealed that globally, if the average rate is $ 5 to $ 6 per user (ARPU) per subscriber per month, "then there are profits".

"In India, the ARPU is $ 8 to $ 10 per subscriber per month.... industry is fully capable of looking after itself," Baijal said when asked about falling rates affecting cellular firms' financial status.

Asserting that competition had forced drop in rates from Rs 16 per minute to Rs 1 or Rs 2 per minute, Baijal said it had resulted in mobile rates being 60 per cent of the tariff in China and growing at 1.5 million phones every month.

He said TRAI would publish financial results of cellular firms on its Website from the next quarter to ensure better transparency and accountability.

Stating that telecom sector was an infrastructure industry, Baijal said a mature player like Orange in UK took seven years to make first profit and Indian industry was capable of managing itself.

PTI