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With the goal of making the nation’s telecom infrastructure and services ready for a digital future, the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) has laid out a blueprint for large-scale reforms in the existing policy framework.
Late Tuesday night, the DoT released for public consultations the draft of the National Telecom Policy (NTP), 2018, aka the National Digital Communications Policy, 2018. If the policy framework achieves its objectives, India will move from the 134th rank into the top 50 in the ICT Development Index of the International Telecommunication Union, by 2022.
The policy aims to provide broadband connectivity for all, generating 40 lakh jobs and requiring an investment of $100 billion in the next four years.
“The draft policy is a forward-looking document and, if all the proposals are met, there will be a lot of opportunities in this sector,” said Tilak Raj Dua, Director General of the Towers and Infrastructure Providers’ Association.
“If the government rationalises the taxes and levies in the sector, the investments will come in, which will help connect the rural areas.”
Universal broadband
The policy aims to provide universal broadband coverage with 50 Mbps speed to every citizen. It also envisages 1 Gbps connectivity to all gram panchayats by 2020 and 10 Gbps by 2022 under the National Broadband Mission, fixed-line broadband access to 50 per cent of households, and a ‘unique mobile subscriber density’ of 55 by 2020 and 65 by 2022.
Public Wi-Fi hotspots
Some of the other key highlights include deployment of public Wi-Fi hotspots to reach 50 lakh users by 2020 and 1 crore by 2022.
“The policy is committed to providing high-speed internet to all by various initiatives such as BharatNet, GramNet, NagarNet and Jan Wi-Fi. Broadband is slowly becoming a basic amenity for the citizens and, by various initiatives, the government is trying to provide high-speed connectivity at affordable prices,” said Hemant Joshi, Partner/Leader, Technology, Media & Telecommunications, Deloitte India.
On spectrum, the draft NTP talks about enabling ‘light-touch licensing/de-licensing for broadband proliferation’; promoting the co-use/secondary use of spectrum; constituting a Spectrum Advisory Team consisting of experts; identifying and making available new spectrum bands for access; and developing 5G networks.
The Policy also aims to increase the contribution of the digital communications sector to GDP to 8 per cent, from the estimated 6 per cent in 2017.
The document further says there will be a review of the regulatory regime for satellite communication technologies, including revising licensing and regulatory conditions.
The NTP also proposes to set up a new National Fibre Authority to ensure efficient rollout of broadband infrastructure.
How feasible is it?
But the key question is whether the Centre can execute the proposals by 2022, as it will require massive coordination among the various ministries.
For example, the policy seeks to reduce the overall levies imposed on telecom operators but this issue has been opposed by the Finance Ministry, as it will impact revenue generation.
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