Telecom operators have reportedly raised objections to the government’s decision to allocate a portion of the Digital Bharat Nidhi (DBN) corpus (formerly the Universal Service Obligation Fund) for research and development (R&D), particularly by public sector units and select institutions like the Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs). The operators argue this move deviates from the fund’s original intent, which was to support telecom infrastructure in underserved rural and remote regions.
In a letter to the Department of Telecommunications, the Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI), representing telcos, emphasised that DBN was established to alleviate the burden on telecom and internet service providers (ISPs) to expand networks in commercially unviable regions. These operators contribute 5 per cent of their adjusted gross revenue to the DBN, which had a balance of Rs 863.56 billion as of December 2023.
Operators contend that allocating 5 per cent of the DBN for R&D, without contributions from over-the-top (OTT) platforms who also benefit from broadband proliferation, is unfair. While acknowledging the strategic value of R&D, telcos argued that it traditionally falls under academic and research institutions and should not be cross-subsidised by private telecom players.
The letter further criticised the lack of transparency in how R&D funds have been allocated, without a competitive or open bidding process. The telcos have urged the government to ensure a more equitable distribution of funds across all capable R&D and technical institutions and insisted that any intellectual property developed from DBN-funded research be made accessible to the contributing telcos and ISPs.
In addition, the operators called for adherence to the DBN Rules, 2024 in selecting implementing agencies, and requested that major contributors to the fund be included in the decision-making process.
