Private companies can set up telecom gateways
New Delhi: The department of telecommunications (DoT) has decided to allow private companies to set up telecom gateways and sell their bandwidth to Internet Service Providers (ISPs). Earlier, only ISPs were allowed to set up gateways. Under the revised policy any private company can set up such a gateway for international connectivity for internet related traffic only.

Under the new guidelines, the department has made it mandatory for all such private gateways to connect all routers over 2 Mbps to the monitoring facilities of the intelligence agencies - IB and RAW. This would enable the security agencies to keep a 24-hour watch on the gateways. The cost of the equipment, including its commissioning, for such monitoring will have to be borne by the gateway licensee.

The telecom authority has reserved the right to monitor all traffic passing through the gateways.
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Centre still open to ideas on ESOPs
New Delhi: While the finance minister let down the IT industry by refusing to give any sops on the vexed issue of taxation on ESOPs, the government has stated that it is willing to look at alternatives for ESOPs that make it revenue neutral.

The government is stated to be keen on resolving the issue on ESOPs fast enough if the industry comes up with an acceptable alternative to the existing taxation structure. Currently, ESOPs suffer a dual taxation -- first at the point when the employee exercises the option, where they are treated as perquisites, and second at the point when the shares are sold, where the gains are taxed.

The industry has been arguing that the tax at the point of exercising the option creates unnecessary hardships to the employees in terms of cash flows. The industry has been suggesting the US example, where tax is deferred selectively, on a case-by-case basis, to the point of sale. However, many experts question this model by stating that to introduce a discretionary element in the regime at a time when such discretions are being phased out, is not correct.
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