The Broadband India Forum (BIF) has commended the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India’s (TRAI) recommendations on encouraging innovative services, technologies, use cases and business models using regulatory sandbox in digital communications sector as an extremely progressive step forward for the sector. The recommendations aptly uphold objectives of Propel India mission of National Digital Communications Policy (NDCP) 2018 as well as the Indian Telecommunications Act (Telecom Act) 2023, and would help pave the way for a progressive way forward for the sector in terms of improved local technological prowess and help build world-class products and solutions, out of India.
Commenting on the development, TV Ramachandran, president, BIF, said, “BIF lauds TRAI recommendations on encouraging innovative services, technologies, use cases and business models using regulatory sandbox in digital communications sector which is progressively focused on providing enabling platforms for talented startups and developers to test their innovative products and solutions in live networks, thereby helping create a more efficient, cost-effective and technologically enhanced network infrastructure for the sector to improve service performance and delivery. This is perhaps the first such measure in decades and this move will greatly augment startup and micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) ecosystem through entry of credible new local players, thereby enhancing competition and technological innovation, while also attracting investments.”
Permission for carrying out testing in live networks will allow startup ecosystem to test the reliability of their indigenously developed new innovative products and solutions and suitably tweak them to make them more mature and readier for adoption by operators in the commercial networks.
The forward-looking recommendations by the authority provides startups an option to directly apply to the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) when they are unable to enter into an agreement with reasonable terms with local operators for the purpose of live testing. TRAI has empowered DoT to help startups in such situations, after doing due diligence that the innovations may have widespread impact on society, economy, and technology. By recommending that DoT shall have the right to mandate regulatory sandbox testing on an operator’s network, including fixing terms and conditions of such testing. Therefore, TRAI has provided a great opportunity for Indian startups and technology developers and innovators to develop and mature their products and solutions in live testing environments within India itself.
The recommendations would also act as a catalyst for bringing new technologies into the industry, which would promote innovation and creation of new intellectual property rights and would lead to increased efficiency in delivery of services by network operators, offering further benefits. Besides, cutting down costs significantly, recommendations, when implemented, would also help draw investments into overall network services ecosystem.
