All hopes in the sector are pinned on the new telecom policy, slated to be released in March 2018. Expected to be grander in scope and vision, this will be an applications, not connectivity, driven policy and will involve wider public consultation including feedback from academia, industry and also the general public. It will touch upon several new and upcoming areas like ease of doing business, technologies like 5G and IoT, skill development and security, in addition to traditional ones like spectrum management, and affordable internet and broadband for all.
The key stakeholders in the sector, telecom operators, are hoping for a policy roadmap that will be conducive to the financial health of the sector. In recent years, their traditional revenue streams have dwindled, with data emerging as the new focal point of business growth. The ongoing price wars around data have crippled their balance sheets while they are under constant pressure to ramp up their networks, improve service quality, prevent call drops, offer high data speeds, and provide free services. Given this backdrop, operators are hoping that the new policy will offer some “permanent fixes”, which may require a re-look at and a relaxation in the various levies, charges and taxes imposed on the industry.
There are many other big issues to be sorted. First, the blurring lines between telecom and IT have resulted in several entities being added to the telecom value chain, adversely impacting operators’ potential revenue streams. A case in point is OTT and digital wallet service providers. The new policy must clearly define their role and scope of operations, and ensure a level playing field between them and the existing stakeholders.
Second, the policy must address the regulatory hurdles impeding the expeditious rollout of telecom infrastructure. The use of satellites for broadband proliferation remains largely untapped. Further, OFC deployment is still seen as a Herculean task even after the release of the RoW guidelines.
Third, as the sector undergoes a technological revolution with the emergence of 5G and other new technologies, areas like cloud computing, net neutrality, IoT, big data, virtualisation, automation and artificial intelligence will take centrestage. A robust policy structure is needed to handle issues pertaining to cybersecurity, which is becoming a major threat worldwide.
In sum, an enabling policy framework will serve as the building block for the digital growth the country is aspiring for. While the new telecom policy sets out to achieve this, the devil, as they say, lies in the detail.
