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New Delhi:
The government unveiled a draft of its new telecom policy here
Monday that focuses on free roaming, transparent allocation of
airwaves, strategies to increase rural reach, higher broadband
speeds and more funding options for operators.
The draft policy, which was uploaded on the official website by
Communications Minister Kapil Sibal, also promises a new law on
spectrum allocation and usage -- ostensibly against the backdrop
of a spate of alleged scandals over the award of this scarce
resource earlier.
In this light, the minister said the new policy sought to de-link
allocation of licence to service providers from the award of radio
waves -- which means spectrum will have to be acquired through
competitive bidding or by sharing it with existing firms.
Sibal also said after receiving inputs from stakeholders and
people at large, the final policy will be unveiled by December.
The current policy was drafted in 1999 when India's telecom
subscriber base was barely two million that has grown to around
900 million now.
"Telecom today has emerged as a key driver of economic and social
development and in an increasingly knowledge-intensive global
scenario, India needs to play a leadership role," Sibal said,
outlining the broad contours of the proposed new policy.
"This policy is designed to ensure that India plays this role
effectively and transforms the socio-economic scenario through
accelerated, equitable and inclusive economic growth by laying
emphasis on providing affordable, quality services in rural and
remote areas."
The thrust of the policy is on the following:
- Increase rural tele-density from 35 percent to 100 percent by
2020
- Ensure broadband on demand and aim at 600 million connections by
2020
- Grant one nation-wide licence and do away with roaming charges
- Aim at releasing 500 MhZ spectrum by 2020 to improve service
quality
- Transparent allocation of spectrum through market-related
process
- Enactment of a new spectrum act to address these issues
- Infrastructure status to telecom for better financial options
- A new company to help fund telecom projects
- Mobile number portability across the country, than just
intra-circle
- Appropriate policy for firms wishing to exit telecom business
- New fund to promote domestic research, manufacturing
According to Sibal the policy aims to encourage convergence of
telecom, television and broadband services in the country,
overcoming all existing norms that segregate issues such as
licensing, registration and regulatory mechanisms.
"The main thrust of the policy is on the multiplier effect and
transformational impact of such services in the overall economy.
It recognises the role of such services in furthering the national
development agenda while enhancing equity and inclusiveness."
He also made it clear that while pursuing the new policy, the
focus will be clearly on the development agenda and not on the
money that can accrue to the exchequer. "Revenue generation will
play a secondary role."
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