The Department of Telecommunications (DoT) plans to form various groups to carry out discussions with stakeholders as part of the process to formulate the New Telecom Policy (NTP) 2011, according to news reports.
It is believed that the DoT has in so far initiated preliminary discussions on the new policy which entails identifying a suitable model on which the new policy can be based, given that there are multiple stakeholders in the telecom sector.
Earlier this month, Kapil Sibal, Minister of Telecommunications and IT had announced the formulation of a new and comprehensive NTP 2011 that he said would be clear and transparent.
The announcement followed the issue surrounding the allocation of 2G spectrum in 2008 at 2001 prices. Under the existing policy notified in 1999, spectrum was allocated on a first-come, first-served basis.
The DoT will also discuss various issues related to the telecom policy with consumers, operators and passive infrastructure companies. In addition, the views of equipment vendors and technology providers, regulators and rental institutions, among others, will be sought. Although no time frame was fixed for formulation of the new policy, Sibal had said on January 1 that the process would be initiated within 100 days.
