J S Sarma takes over as Trai chairman

TDSAT member J S Sarma on Thursday took over as chairman of the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India, succeeding Nripendra Mishra.

Trai member A K Sawhney had been acting as chairman since Nripendra Mishra retired on March 22 this year.

Before joining Trai, Sarma was member of the Telecom Disputes Settlement and Appellate Tribunal and is a well-known expert in the field, the regulator said.

Sarma, a former telecom secretary, had served in various ministries including the ministry of rural development, department of personnel and training and also fertilisers.

As department of tlecom secretary, Sarma was chairman of the Telecom Commission from June 2005 to July 2006. He was later appointed TDSAT member on July 28, 2008.

Sarma is taking over at a time when the sector has beaten the slowdown blues to rope in about a crore subscribers a month.

Trai is an independent regulator for telecom and broadcasting in the country. Mainly, it has the powers to recommend on issues except tariffs and interconnection charges.