Departures that inspire confidence

The Telecommunications Bill 2023 allows GoI to assign spectrum for a list of services, including satellite-based cellular networks. This is a departure from policy derived through judicial interpretation that auctions are the best way to go about distributing radio frequencies. This orthodoxy has had mixed effects on telecom’s growth, and fresh thinking is expected to speed up new-gen networks. Other notable departures in earlier drafts, such as regulating OTT services and reclaiming spectrum from insolvent telcos, have been withdrawn in deference to supplementary legislation relating to privacy and bankruptcy.

The Bill also doesn’t dilute Trai‘s powers, a proposal that was seen as anti-market. There is an effort to reinforce its independence by allowing for the appointment of members from the private sector. GoI, of course, gives itself the power to take over telecom networks in the interest of ‘national security’, which is not as objectionable as overriding Trai. Independent regulation is the best available solution for an orderly growth of the industry.

The scope of the Bill, apart from overhauling a patchwork of legislation going back a couple of centuries, is designed to create a policy environment that rewards innovation and speeds up service rollout by lowering entry and exit barriers in telecom. It also restricts its reach to telecom services as they evolve, farming out regulation of ancillary services to other laws being drawn up or being amended. This makes the Bill both forward-looking and wieldy. The legislative changes are a follow-up to a lifeline to telecom operators that paved the way for 5G rollout. The overarching intent would be to avoid such episodes. The Bill is pragmatic enough to inspire such confidence.