Infrastructure Policies

Telecom Sector

Chetan Kavdia
Feb’2019

For Academic Purpose

Indian Telecom Industry
.
• In recent years, the Indian telecom industry has
witnessed phenomenal growth
• India has the second largest telecom network in the
world.
• Total subscriber base in the country stood at 1,192.04
million, at the end of October 2018.
• Telecom penetration has grown rapidly over the
course of the past few years. Tele-density grew from
18.23 per cent in FY07 to 92.84 per cent in FY18.
• India has the second highest number of internet
subscribers globally. - Total number of internet
subscribers stood at 560.01 million, at the end of
September 2018.
• Availability of affordable smartphones and lower
rates of data are expected to drive growth in the
Indian telecom industry.

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Advantage India

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Telecom Market

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Wireless & Rural Segments Gaining Share

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WIRELESS SUBSCRIPTIONS WITNESS ROBUST GROWTH
OVER THE YEARS
• Wireless subscriptions have grown robustly over
the past few years.
• Between FY07-18, wireless subscriptions in the
country increased at a CAGR of 19.61 per cent to
1,183.41 million.
• The growth in wireless subscriptions has led to a
significant rise in wireless tele-density.
• Wireless tele-density of India has increased more
than five-fold from 18.23 per cent in FY07 to
92.84 per cent in FY18.
• At the end of October 2018, wireless
subscriptions stood at 1,170.02 million while
wireless tele-density reached 89.48 per cent.

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STRONG GROWTH IN BROADBAND DRIVES INTERNET
ACCESS REVENUE
• Total broadband subscriptions in the country
increased at a CAGR of 60.03 per cent during
FY07–18 to reach 412.60 million. Subscriptions
stood at 496.12 million, as of October 2018.
• The number of wired broadband subscriptions
stood at 18.10 million, at the end of October
2018.
• Wireless broadband subscribers# stood at 478.02
million, at the end of October 2018.

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NUMBER OF INTERNET SUBSCRIBERS INCREASING AT A
FAST PACE
• The number of internet subscribers in the
country increased at a CAGR of 42.69 per cent
during FY06-FY18 to reach 493.96 million in
2017-18. Internet subscriptions in India
surpassed the 500-million mark by the end of
June 2018. At the end of September 2018,
internet subscriptions reached 560.01 million.
• The number of internet subscribers in the
country is expected to double by 2021 to 829
million#. Overall IP traffic is expected to grow 4-
fold at a CAGR of 30 per cent by 2021. .

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EXPONENTIAL GROWTH IN DATA CONSUMPTION

• India holds the distinction of being the largest

consumer of mobile data globally.
• Data consumption in the country has witnessed
exponential growth over the course of the past
few years.
• Total wireless data usage in India grew 131.12
per cent year-on-year to 12,549,891 terabytes
between July-September 2018

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SURGING TELECOM REVENUES

• Indian telecom sector’s gross revenue grew from

US$ 32.05 billion in FY08 to US$ 39.49 billion in
FY18.
• Gross revenue of the telecom sector stood at Rs
116,228 crore (US$ 16.56 billion) between April-
September 2018.

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Emergence of Tower Industry
• A surge in the subscriber base has necessitated network expansion covering a wider area, thereby creating a need for
significant investment in telecom infrastructure
• To curb costs and focus on core operations, telecom companies have been segregating their tower assets into separate
companies. For example: Reliance Communications has decided to finalise a deal to sell its stake in Reliance Infratel. The
value of the deal is around US$3.68 billion
• Creating separate tower companies has helped telecom companies lower operating cost and improve capital structure;
this has also provided an additional revenue stream
• Inspired by the success seen by Indian players in towers business, most of the operators around the world are replicating
the mode

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 Various important regulations and laws have been passed in the Indian telecom
industry post-liberalisation era

Department of Telecommunication (DoT) is the main body formulating laws

and various regulations for the Indian telecom industry.

ILD services was

BSNL was Number portability
Independent opened to Intra-circle merger
established was proposed
Private players regulator, TRAI, competition guidelines were
by DoT Calling Party Pays
were allowed in was established (CPP) was
established Attempted to 4G Mobile services National Digital
Value Added Go-ahead to boost Rural Comm Policy
implemented
Services the CDMA telephony
technology
1994 1999 2002 2005 2007-2012
2003 2004 2016
INDIA

1992 2000 Internet Unified Access 2006

1997
telephony Licensing 2015
initiated (UASL) regime Broadband
was introduced policy 2004
National 2G/3G spectrum.
NTP-99 led to Reduction of was
Telecom Policy FDI limit was In 2012, SC
migration from high- licence fees Reference formulated— FDI limit was
(NTP) was increased from intervened and
cost fixed license Interconnect targeting 20 increased to
formulated 49 to 74 percent cancelled 2G;
fee to low-cost order was million 100%
2010- MNP
revenue sharing issued subscribers by
launched
regime 2010
NTP -2012

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NTP-2012
• VISION - To provide secure, reliable, affordable and high quality
converged telecommunication services anytime, anywhere for an
accelerated inclusive socio-economic development.

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NTP-2012
MISSION
1. To develop a robust and secure state-of-the-art telecommunication network providing seamless coverage
with special focus on rural and remote areas for bridging the digital divide and thereby facilitate socio-
economic development.
2. To create an inclusive knowledge society through proliferation of affordable and high quality broadband
services across the nation.
3. To reposition the mobile device as an instrument of socio-economic empowerment of citizens.
4. To make India a global hub for telecom equipment manufacturing and a centre for converged
communication services.
5. To promote Research and Development, Design in cutting edge ICTE technologies, products and services
for meeting the infrastructure needs of domestic and global markets with focus on security and green
technologies.
6. To promote development of new standards to meet national requirements, generation of IPRs and
participation in international standardization bodies to contribute in formation of global standards,
thereby making India a leading nation in the area of telecom standardization.
7. To attract investment, both domestic and foreign.
8. To promote creation of jobs through all of the above.

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NTP-2012
OBJECTIVES
• Provide secure, affordable and high quality telecommunication services to all citizens.
• Increase rural teledensity from the current level of around 39 to 70 by the year 2017 and 100 by the
year 2020.
• Provide affordable and reliable broadband-on-demand by the year 2015 and to achieve 175 million
broadband connections by the year 2017 and 600 million by the year 2020 at minimum 2 Mbps
download speed and making available higher speeds of at least 100 Mbps on demand.
• Enable citizens to participate in and contribute to e-governance in key sectors like health, education,
skill development, employment, governance, banking etc. to ensure equitable and inclusive growth.
• Provide high speed and high quality broadband access to all village panchayats through a
combination of technologies by the year 2014 and progressively to all villages and habitations by
2020.
• Promote innovation, indigenous R&D and manufacturing to serve domestic and global markets, by
increasing skills and competencies.
• Create a corpus to promote indigenous R&D, IPR creation, entrepreneurship, manufacturing,
commercialisation and deployment of state-of-the-art telecom products and services during the 12th
five year plan period.

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NTP-2012
OBJECTIVES
• Promote the ecosystem for design, Research and Development, IPR creation, testing,
standardization and manufacturing i.e. complete value chain for domestic production of
telecommunication equipment to meet Indian telecom sector demand to the extent of 60% and
80% with a minimum value addition of 45% and 65% by the year 2017 and 2020 respectively.
• Provide preference to domestically manufactured telecommunication products, in procurement
of those telecommunication products which have security implications for the country and in
Government procurement for its own use, consistent with our World Trade Organization (WTO)
commitments.
• Develop and establish standards to meet national requirements, generate IPRs, and participate
in international standardization bodies to contribute in formulation of global standards, thereby
making India a leading nation in the area of international telecom standardization. This will be
supported by establishing appropriate linkages with industry, R&D institutions, academia, telecom
service providers and users.
• Simplify the licensing framework to further extend converged high quality services across the
nation including rural and remote areas. This will not cover content regulation.

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NTP-2012
OBJECTIVES
• Strive to create One Nation - One License across services and service areas.
• Achieve One Nation - Full Mobile Number Portability and work towards One Nation - Free
Roaming.
• Reposition the mobile phone from a mere communication device to an instrument of
empowerment that combines communication with proof of identity, fully secure financial and
other transaction capability, multi-lingual services and a whole range of other capabilities that
ride on them and transcend the literacy barrier.
• Encourage development of mobile phones based on open platform standards.
• Deliver high quality seamless voice, data, multimedia and broadcasting services on converged
networks for enhanced service delivery to provide superior experience to users.
• Put in place a simplified Merger & Acquisition regime in telecom service sector while ensuring
adequate competition.
• Optimize delivery of services to consumers irrespective of their devices or locations by Fixed-
Mobile Convergence thus making available valuable spectrum for other wireless services.

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NTP-2012
OBJECTIVES
• Promote an ecosystem for participants in VAS industry value chain to make India a global hub for
Value Added Services (VAS).
• Ensure adequate availability of spectrum and its allocation in a transparent manner through
market related processes. Make available additional 300 MHz spectrum for IMT services by the
year 2017 and another 200 MHz by 2020.
• Promote efficient use of spectrum with provision of regular audit of spectrum usage.
• De-licensing additional frequency bands for public use.
• Recognize telecom as Infrastructure Sector to realize true potential of ICT for development.
• Address the Right of Way (RoW) issues in setting up of telecom infrastructure.
• Mandate an ecosystem to ensure setting up of a common platform for interconnection of various
networks for providing non-exclusive and non-discriminatory access.

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NTP-2012
OBJECTIVES
• Strengthen the framework to address the environmental and health related concerns pertaining
to the telecom sector.
• Enhanced and continued adoption of green policy in telecom and incentivise use of renewable
energy sources for sustainability.
• Protect consumer interest by promoting informed consent, transparency and accountability in
quality of service, tariff, usage etc.
• Strengthen the grievance redressal mechanisms to provide timely and effective resolution.
• Strengthen the institutional framework to enhance the pace of human capital formation and
capacity building by assessing and addressing educational and training needs of the sector.
• Encourage recognition and creation of synergistic alliance of public sector and other
organisations of Department of Telecommunications (DoT). This should be achieved through
appropriate policy interventions and support for optimum utilisation of their resources and
strengths in building a robust and secure telecom and information infrastructure.

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NTP-2012
OBJECTIVES
• Strengthen the framework to address the environmental and health related concerns pertaining
to the telecom sector.
• Enhanced and continued adoption of green policy in telecom and incentivise use of renewable
energy sources for sustainability.
• Protect consumer interest by promoting informed consent, transparency and accountability in
quality of service, tariff, usage etc.
• Strengthen the grievance redressal mechanisms to provide timely and effective resolution.
• Strengthen the institutional framework to enhance the pace of human capital formation and
capacity building by assessing and addressing educational and training needs of the sector.
• Encourage recognition and creation of synergistic alliance of public sector and other
organisations of Department of Telecommunications (DoT). This should be achieved through
appropriate policy interventions and support for optimum utilisation of their resources and
strengths in building a robust and secure telecom and information infrastructure.

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NTP-2012
• OBJECTIVES
• Evolve a policy framework for financing the sector consistent with long term
sustainability.
• Put in place appropriate fiscal and financial incentives required for indigenous
manufacturers of telecom products and R&D institutions.
• Achieve substantial transition to new Internet Protocol (IPv 6) in the country in a
phased and time bound manner by 2020 and encourage an ecosystem for
provision of a significantly large bouquet of services on IP platform.
• Strengthen the institutional, legal, and regulatory framework and re-engineer
processes to bring in more efficiency, timely decision making and transparency.
• Put in place a web based, real time e-governance solution to support online
submission of applications including processing, issuance of licences and
clearances from DoT.
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For Academic Purpose
 National Digital Communications Policy, 2018
• The objective of NDCP 2018 is to unlock the transformative power of
digital communications networks - to achieve the goal of digital
empowerment and improved well-being of the people of India.
• The NDCP aims to accomplish the following Strategic Objectives by
2022:
i. Provisioning of Broadband for all
ii. Creating 4 Million additional jobs in Digital Communications sector
iii. Enhancing the contribution of the Digital Communications sector
to 8% of India’s GDP from ~ 6% in 2017
iv. Propelling India to the Top 50 Nations in the ICT Development
Index of ITU from 134 in 2017
v. Enhancing India’s contribution to Global Value Chains
vi. Ensuring Digital Sovereignty

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 NDCP 2018 - Missions
NDCP 2018 envisages three Missions:
1. Connect India: Creating Robust Digital Communications
Infrastructure To promote Broadband for All as a tool for socio-
economic development, ensuring service quality and
environmental sustainability.
2. Propel India: Enabling Next Generation Technologies and
Services through Investments, Innovation and IPR generation
To harness the power of emerging digital technologies, including
5G, AI, IoT, Cloud and Big Data to enable provision of future
ready products and services; and to catalyse the fourth
industrial revolution (Industry 4.0) by promoting Investments,
Innovation and IPR.
3. Secure India: Ensuring Sovereignty, Safety and Security of
Digital Communications To secure the interests of citizens and
safeguard the digital sovereignty of India with a focus on
ensuring individual autonomy and choice, data ownership,
privacy and security; while recognizing data as a crucial
economic resource.
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 Connect India (Creation of Robust Digital Communication Infrastructure

• Universal broadband connectivity at 50 Mbps to every citizen

• Provide 1 Gbps connectivity to all Gram Panchayats of India
by 2020 and 10 Gbps by 2022
• 100 Mbps Broadband on demand to all key development
institutions; including all educational institutions
• Fixed line broadband access to 50% of households
• Achieve ‘mobile subscriber density’ of 55 by 2020 and 65 by
2022
• Deployment of public Wi-Fi Hotspots; to reach 5 million by
2020 and 10 million by 2022
• Connectivity to all uncovered Remote & Hilly Areas

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 Strategies
1. Establishing a ‘National Broadband Mission – Rashtriya
Broadband Abhiyan’ to secure universal broadband access
(a) Implementation of the following broadband initiatives, to be funded
through USOF and Public Private Partnerships:
i. BharatNet – Providing 1 Gbps to Gram Panchayats upgradeable to
10 Gbps
ii. GramNet – Connecting all key rural development institutions with 10
Mbps upgradeable to 100 Mbps
iii. NagarNet – 1 Million public Wi-Fi Hotspots in urban areas
iv. Jan WiFi – Establishing 2 Million Wi-Fi Hotspots in rural areas
(b) Implementing a ‘Fibre First Initiative’ to take fibre to the home, to
enterprises and to key development institutions in Tier I, II and III
towns.
(c) Establishment of a National Digital Grid
(d) Facilitate the establishment of Mobile Tower Infrastructure
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 Strategies (Cont’d..)

(e) Improve international connectivity and reduce the cost of international

bandwidth by facilitating setting up of International Cable Landing
Stations.
(f) Encourage sharing of active infrastructure by enhancing the scope of
Infrastructure Providers (IP) and promoting and incentivizing
deployment of common sharable, passive as well as active,
infrastructure.
(g) Creating a Broadband Readiness Index for States/ UTs to attract
investments and address RoW challenges.
(h) Encouraging investment in broadband infrastructure through fiscal
incentives ( accelerated depreciation and tax incentives).
(i) By encouraging innovative approaches to infrastructure creation and
access including through resale and Virtual Network Operators (VNO)
(j) Promoting broadband connectivity through innovative and alternative
technologies.
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 Strategies (Cont’d..)
2 Recognizing Spectrum as a key natural resource for public benefit
to achieve India’s Socio-economic goals by:
(a) Developing a transparent, normative and fair policy for spectrum
assignments and allocations
(b) Making adequate spectrum for the new broadband era:
I. Identifying new Spectrum bands for Access and Backhaul
segments for new networks (5G).
II. Making available harmonized and contiguous spectrum for
deployment of next generation access technologies.
III. Liberalizing the spectrum sharing, Leasing and Trading.
IV. Coordinating with Government departments for freeing
underutilized / substitutable spectrum.
V. Optimal Pricing of Spectrum to ensure sustainable and affordable
access to Digital Communications.
VI. Simplifying the process of permissions from various
agencies(WPC and SACFA) in order to promote efficiency.
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 Strategies (Cont’d..)
vii. Enabling Light Touch licensing/ de-licensing of spectrum for broadband
proliferation
viii. Promoting the co-use/ secondary use of spectrum
ix. Constituting a Spectrum Advisory Team (SAT) consisting of experts,
industry and academia to facilitate the identification of new bands,
applications and efficiency measures to catalyse innovation and efficient
spectrum management

3. Strengthening Satellite Communication Technologies in India

(a) Review the regulatory regime for satellite communication technologies,

including: Revising licensing and regulatory conditions that limit the use
of satellite communications, such as speed barriers, band allocation, etc.
i. Simplifying compliance requirements for VSAT operators to ensure
faster roll out.
ii. Expanding scope of permissible services for the effective utilisation of
High Throughput Satellite systems through appropriate licensing
mechanism.
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 Strategies (Cont’d..)
4. Strengthening Satellite Communication Technologies in India

(A) Establishing effective institutional mechanisms to protect consumers’

interests including:
(i) Telecom Ombudsman.
(ii) A centralized web based Complaint Redressal System,

(B) Focusing on public health and safety standards to promote the well-
being of citizens:

(i) Generating awareness around Electro Magnetic Fields

Emissions based on international experience and global
best practices.

(II) Generating awareness on hazards of e-waste and encouraging

proper disposal management of equipment used. 30
 Strategies (Cont’d..)
5 Propel India: Enabling Next Generation Technologies and Services
through Investments, Innovation, Indigenous Manufacturing and
IPR Generation :

a. Attract investments of USD 100 Billion in the Digital Communications

Sector .
b. Increase India’s contribution to Global Value Chains .
c. Creation of innovation led Start-ups in Digital Communications sector.
d. Creation of Globally recognized IPRs in India.
e. Development of Standard Essential Patents (SEPs) in the field of
digital communication technologies.
f. Train/ Re-skill 1 Million manpower for building New Age Skills.
g. Expand IoT ecosystem to 5 Billion connected devices

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 Strategies (Cont’d..)
6. Secure India: Ensuring Digital Sovereignty, Safety and Security of
Digital Communications - 2022 Goals:
a. Establish a comprehensive data protection regime for digital
communications that safeguards the privacy, autonomy and choice of
individuals and facilitates India’s effective participation in the global
digital economy
b. Ensure that net neutrality principles are upheld and aligned with
service requirements, bandwidth availability and network capabilities
including next generation access technologies
c. Develop and deploy robust digital communication network security
frameworks
d. Build capacity for security testing and establish appropriate security
standards
e. Address security issues relating to encryption and security clearances
f. Enforce accountability through appropriate institutional mechanisms to
assure citizens of safe and secure digital communications
infrastructure and services 32
 Expectations

National Digital Communications Policy, 2018 will

facilitate the unleashing of the creative energies of Citizens,
Enterprises and Institutions in India; and play a seminal
role in fulfilling the aspirations of all Indians for a better
quality of life.

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Role of Regulator

34
 Telecom Regulatory Authority of India
(TRAI)

• TRAI is an autonomous statutory body established under Telecom Regulatory Authority of India Act,
1997 to regulate telecom services, including fixation/revision of tariffs, interconnection and quality
of service etc, of telecom services in India which were earlier vested in the Central Government.

• Mission of TRAI is to create and nurture conditions for growth of telecommunications in the country
in a manner and at a pace which will enable India to play a leading role in emerging global
information society.

• Provide a fair and transparent policy environment which promotes a level playing field and facilitates
fair competition.

• TRAI issues Directions, Orders and Regulations to achieve its objectives and carry out its functions
assigned under Section 11 of TRAI Act, 1997.

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 Functions of TRAI
(a) Make Recommendations- either suo motu or on a request from the licensor, on

(i) Need and timing for introduction of new service provider;

(ii) Terms and conditions of licence to a service provider;

(iii) Revocation of license for non-compliance of terms and conditions of license:

(iv) Measures to facilitate competition and promote efficiency in the operation of

telecommunication services so as to facilitate growth in such services.

(v) Technological improvements in the services provided by the service

Providers.

(vi) Type of equipment to be used by the service providers

(vii) Measures for the development of telecommunication technology and any

other matter relatable to telecommunication industry in general;

(viii) Efficient management of available spectrum;

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 Functions of TRAI (Cont’d…)
(b) Discharge the following functions:

(i) Ensure compliance of terms and conditions of license;

(ii) Fix the terms and conditions of inter-connectivity between the
service providers;
(iii) Ensure technical compatibility and effective inter-connection
between different service providers.
(iv) Regulate arrangement amongst service providers of sharing their
revenue derived from providing telecommunication services;
(v) Lay down the standards of quality of service to be provided by
the service providers and ensure the quality of service and
conduct the periodical survey of such service provided by the
service providers so as to protect interest of the consumers of
telecommunication services;

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 Functions of TRAI (Cont’d…)
(vi) Lay down and ensure the time period for providing local and long
distance circuits of telecommunication between different service
providers;
(vii) Maintain register of interconnect agreements and of all such other
matters as may be provided in the regulations;
(viii) Keep register maintained under clause (viii) open for inspection to
any member of public on payment of such fee and compliance of
such other requirement as may be provided in the regulations;
(ix) Ensure effective compliance of universal service obligations:

Any other functions including such administrative and financial functions

as may be entrusted to it by the Central Government or as may be
necessary to carry out the provisions of this Act:

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POLICY SUPPORT

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POLICY SUPPORT

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POLICY SUPPORT

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Key Challenges
• Licensing framework: With the latest developments taking place in the ICT sector, the nature of the entities rolling out
infrastructure, networks, services, and applications are also changing. While most entities specialize in a particular
segment of the value chain, some integrated players are involved in all segments of value chain starting from rolling out
infrastructure to offering services and applications for end consumers.
• License fee: The present framework for calculation of license fee and spectrum usage charges requires review as it was
devised approximately two decades back when the telecom networks and services were tightly coupled, convergence of
networks, services, and devices were nonexistent, and the telecom market was primarily a voice centric market. With the
developments of technology and markets during the last two decades, the nature of market has changed from voice to
data centric, and service providers need to offer a package of services which may consist of many licensed, and some
unlicensed services. In this context; it may be appropriate to review the concept of Gross Revenue and its underlining
elements. Further, due to layering of service providers in the value chain i.e. infrastructure, networks, services, and
applications, it is essential to review the positions to avoid cascading of levies. In addition to reviewing the license fee and
spectrum usage charges structure, there is a need to review the rates of such levies keeping in view the fact that the
access spectrum is now being assigned through auction process, and telecommunication networks have become
underlying infrastructure for growth of digital economy. Boost to the digital economy would generate much more
employment for citizens and revenue to the Government.

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Key Challenges
• Spectrum management: Spectrum is the most critical resource for rollout of wireless networks and services. Further, it is
an intangible asset which perishes with time if not put to any productive use. India's dependence on wireless networks is
much more in comparison to other similar sized economies, as we have very low level of penetration of fixed line
networks. It is necessary that the available spectrum is utilised fully, and transparently assigned in such a way that results
in maximization of socio-economic gains to the country. Wherever it is possible to free up spectrum by utilising more
efficient technologies or substitutable wireline systems, the same should be done. To create awareness about the value of
spectrum assigned to various Government entities, nominal values should be assigned for such spectrum holdings. To
encourage government departments for freeing underutilised/ substitutable spectrum, they should be incentivised and
spared spectrum should be assigned for more productive use through auction process. Further, audit and accounting of
the spectrum in use by various governments and private entities is also essential to ensure optimum usage of spectrum.
•
• Right of Way and Fiberisation: As has been discussed before, the speedy rollout of communication infrastructure is vital
for meeting the increasing demand of data, improving competitiveness, productivity and innovation, and enabling the
Fourth Industrial Revolution in the country. The rollout of fibre networks is critical for backhauling the large amount of
data, improving reliability, and reducing latency. For speedy rollout of infrastructure, it is necessary that Right of Way
permissions, to be granted by the respective local authorities, are granted expeditiously at reasonable charges and in non-
discriminatory manner to the service providers. Accordingly, there is need for coordinated efforts among the Central,
State, and Local authorities so that a common online portal for granting all kind of Right of Way permissions in time bound
manner is put in place swiftly. It will improve ease of doing business in the sector and in attracting required amount of
investments.

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Key Challenges
• Sharing of infrastructure and resources including spectrum: Sharing of the infrastructure and resources plays a vital role
in bringing down prices and improving affordability of services. While on the one hand it helps in speedy rollout of services
and applications, on the other hand it maximizes return on investments, and thereby attracts more investment and creates
new jobs. Under the policy, it should be permitted to share the available infrastructure and resources, on voluntarily basis,
with any service providers who possess the valid license or permission to offer services using such infrastructure and
resources. Further, an online exchange for voluntarily trading and sharing of available infrastructure and resources
including spectrum should be put in place to maximize their use, discover market linked prices, and improve efficiency.
•
• Development of data centres: For meeting the new age ICT needs of the country including rollout of cloud services, IoT/
M2M services, content hosting and delivery, software defined networks, and network function virtualization, and in the
process transform knowledge economy of India, it is essential that an integrated policy framework for development of
data centres involving legal, cyber and data security, connectivity, building space, power, and human capital relating issues
is framed early. These data centres can also be used to export ICT services and applications. It will also improve quality of
experience for consumers.

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Key Challenges
• Research and Development: Promotion of R&D, innovation, experiments, patent creation, testing, and standardization in
the country is a mission critical for self reliance, security of the nation, and addressing the local challenges. We already
have a large pool of trained manpower, however, the requisite test bed infrastructure and policy incentives are missing.
We can create special technology zones, where a complete ecosystem for promoting such activities can be developed. In
such zones, the rules can be further simplified, and required resources including spectrum should be made available on
easier terms.

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Telecom Administration in India

 Government of India- Department Of Telecom (DoT)

- Policy making and Licensing

 Telecom Regulatory Authority Of India (TRAI)

- Recommendatory Body for Licensing in Telecom And Broadcasting and Regulator for
Telecom and Broadcasting

 Telecom Dispute Settlement and Appellate Tribunal (TDSAT)

- Adjudicating Body for Telecom and Broadcasting Disputes

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Functions of Telecom Dept
 Telecom Policy Formulation
 Telecom Licensing
 Wireless Spectrum Management
 Universal Service Obligation
 Standardization, R & D

 Administration of :
• Indian Telegraph Act
• Indian Wireless Telegraphy Act
• Telecom Regulatory Authority of India Act

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