COMMUNICATION POLICY ANALYSIS INDIA NATIONAL TELECOM POLICY 2012

COMMUNICATION POLICY ANALYSIS: INDIA NATIONAL TELECOM POLICY 2012 KATIE EPLEY

The Client TRAI was established on Feb. 20, 1997 by an Act of Parliament to regulate telecom services including fixation/revision of tariffs for telecom services that were earlier vested in the Central Government. TRAI’s mission is to create and nurture conditions for growth of telecommunications in the country in a manner that will enable India to play a leading role in emerging global information society. The main objective of TRAI is to provide a fair and transparent policy environment that promotes a level playing field and facilitates fair competition. The Document: http: //www. auspi. in/National Telecom Policy 2012. pdf

“Minister Kapil Sabil Announces New Telecom Policy” Expert Opinion and Analysis, News X India

“Availability of affordable and effective communications for the citizens is at the core of the vision and goal of the NTP-2012” – Preamble POLICY GOALS • Attract investment, both domestic and foreign • Transform the country into an empowered and inclusive knowledgebased society, using telecommunications as a platform • Provide affordable and quality telecom services in rural & remote areas • Enhance India’s competiveness • Reposition the mobile device as an instrument of socio-economic empowerment of society • Make India a global hub for telecom equipment manufacturing

EMERGING FRAMEWORK Communication Model: Development Model “The thrust of the policy is to underscore the imperative that sustained adoption of technology would offer viable options in overcoming developmental challenges in education, health, employment generation, financial inclusion and much else”. – Telecom Minister of India

POLICY STRENGTHS AND WEAKNESSES Strengths • The consideration of human capital formation and capacity building. • A strategy to derive maximal dividend from the young population and their creative abilities. • The mandate and enforcement of Telecom Service Providers to take adequate measures to ensure security of communication, including cyber-security. • Emphasis on skill development and R&D Weaknesses • Clauses are vague and leave terms ill-defined • There are no standards for incentives for Indian product manufacturers or for R&D • The Operationalization of the Policy (Section 14) is severely lacking in content and provides for area of reform. • Lacks appropriate basic framework needed to accommodate propositions, new projects, and new regulatory bodies.

GAPS IN POLICY APPROACH • Vague Operationalization of the Policy: “Policy will be operationalized by bringing out detailed guidelines, as may be considered appropriate, from time to time” (14. 2). (Emphasis added). • Lack of standards for incentives, or vagueness of “appropriate” incentives for rural rollout (1. 4) and for Indian product manufacturers (2. 16). • Does not expound upon financing of the telecom sector. From which “existing entities” will new projects be financed? (12. 2) • Lack of time frames for progress.

MAIN FINDINGS • The policy document provides an adequate roadmap for the future of telecom growth in India and is “forwardlooking”, however, is vague and leaves terms and time frames for progress illdefined. • The document “emphasizes” but does not delineate the active roles of both private sector and Government including the State Governments and Local bodies to enable growth of the telecom structure. • Areas of reform are “Financing of Telecom Sector”, “Role of Regulator”, and Operationalization of the Policy”.

RECOMMENDATIONS Recommendations for TRAI: • Assist in the formation of a “council consisting of experts” as defined in NTP-2012, Clause 2. 3. and participate in its intended role as specified in the document. • Promote the setting up of Telecom Standard Development Organization (TSDO) as defined by Clause 2. 7. • Promote standards for providing incentives required for indigenous manufacturers of telecom products and R&D institutions. • Promote a more comprehensive framework for financing new telecom projects to determine from which “existing entities” new projects will be finance. • Simplify the licensing framework to further extend converged high quality services across the nation including rural and remote areas.

RESOURCES The Policy Document • Government of India, Department of Telecommunications (Do. T) Expert Analysis • • PERRY 4 LAW ORGANISATION, Centre Of Excellence For Cyber Security Research And Development In India (CECSRDI). Romal Shetty, Head of KPGM India Telecom, Telecom Expert, The Indian Express • Dr. R. Swaminathan: Senior Fellow at the Observer Research Foundation Telecom Policy Sources • Deloitte. “National Telecom Policy 2011: A Pragmatic View of the Road Ahead”. • Dun and Bradstreet Inc. “Liberalization Policy 1991”, Regulatory Framework. • Trilegal Bulletin. "Overview of National Telecom Policy, 2012. ” Other Sources • Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI). “About: History”. • Venturelli, Shalini. “Global Communication Policy Models”. Lecture and Slide Presentation.