India approves new national telecoms policy
Aims to liberalize spectrum policies, accelerate growth and abolish internal roaming fees, as well as clean up the sector
Published: 1 June, 2012
READ MORE: Spectrum | India | Regulator
India's federal cabinet has approved the long awaited new national telecoms plan, the first since 1999, attempting to speed the pace of wireless and broadband expansion in the country, and move away from recent corruption scandals.
"The policy seeks to provide a predictable and stable policy regime for a period of about 10 years," said telecom minister Kapil Sibal in a press conference. This is hard to achieve in a market which is both the world's fastest growing, and its lowest cost in terms of tariffs.
The new policy is heavily focused on wireless and a key aim is to simplify byzantine licensing rules by allocating single national licences, and separating the licence from bandwidth. Sibal said this will allow users to switch providers without having to change their numbers and will pave the way to abolish roaming charges when users move between operating regions - depriving cellcos of about 10% of their revenues. Currently, carriers need a separate licence for each of the 22 operating circles.
The new policy also calls for more liberal rules on spectrum, which would allow telcos to choose which type of services they offer, and the technology they use.
The minister added that "availability of affordable and effective communications for citizens" is the core goal of the new telecom policy.
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