Draft of new telecom policy may be put out for public feedback on May 1

NEW DELHI: Draft of the new telecom policy, aimed at bringing in innovation and investments in the industry, is likely to be put out for public views on May 1, a senior government official said on Thursday.

“The direction of the new policy, that we hope you will see as early as on May 1, will be reform-oriented,” telecom secretary Aruna Sundararajan said at the annual general meeting of US industry body AmCham. “It will be investor friendly and bring down the cost of compliances,” she said.

The new framework is expected to focus on providing affordable Internet access to 1.3 billion Indians and facilitate domestic manufacturing to curb dependence on imports. “It (the policy) will hopefully trigger innovation, focus on Make in India, and provide opportunities for partnering with lot of companies,” Sundararajan said.


EThad reported earlier that some of the key areas of the upcoming policy to facilitate digital access include future-ready technologies, broadband for all, and next generation of digital services, besides a focus on India’s transformation into a trillion-dollar economy.

Telecom minister Manoj Sinha also tweeted on Wednesday that he had reviewed the draft guidelines of the new policy prepared by the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) and that it would be made public soon. “Reviewed the final draft of the much-awaited National Digital Communications Policy 2018 with colleagues in the department. We hope to make it available for public feedback soon,” Sinha tweeted.

The discussions between the stakeholders and the department have been on for last one year for the new National Digital Communications Policy 2018 that would also aim to attract investors with a target of at least $100 billion by 2022.