The government is reportedly aiming to overhaul the Indian telecommunications sector as it is a key industry for the success for PM’s digital ambitions. To this end, it is exploring ways to allow companies to merge, expand and operate without multiple bureaucratic approvals so as to avoid subsequent court cases. Further, the government aims to ensure stable policies and facilitate acquiring land, electricity and other inputs.
This move by the government aligns with India’s need of a thriving telecom industry to cater to its market of billion-plus users and catch up with countries like China and South Korea that already use 5G networks.
The government has said that it aims to present new rules in February, 2022.
The government won’t set a floor rate for tariffs and will leave it to companies to decide based on their understanding of their customers. In addition, India aims to start 5G services by October-December 2022.
These steps will complement the government’s recent decision to manufacture semiconductors in India, which in turn seeks to benefit from a global shortage of the chips and aims to reduce the nation’s reliance on expensive imports of the material used in everything from mobile phones to electric vehicles.
