Jyotiraditya Scindia, Union Minister of Communications and Development of North Eastern Region is scheduled to hold meetings with telecom service providers, internet service providers (ISPs), and academicians to continue discussions on sectoral issues. These meetings are part of Scindia’s interactions with the six new advisory groups formed by the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) to develop a new growth and development agenda.
The key participants in the discussions include Gopal Vittal, chief executive officer (CEO), Bharti Airtel, Ajai Chowdhry, co-founder, HCL, and R K Upadhyay, CEO and chairman, Centre for Development of Telematics (C-DOT). With the national budget presentation approaching, telecom companies are expected to advocate for exemptions on customs duties for specific telecom equipment, suspension of the Universal Service Obligation Fund (USOF) until the current corpus is exhausted, and a reduction of the license fee from 3 per cent to 1 per cent.
Meanwhile, Scindia had met with three of the seven advisory groups, including satellite communications, the electronics ecosystem, and original equipment manufacturers (OEMs). These meetings aimed to delve into issues related to satcom, production-linked incentives (PLI), and telecom equipment.
The first advisory meeting with satcom stakeholders identified 4-5 key issues to be discussed at the next stakeholder meeting in August 2024. Furthermore, DoT is drafting terms of reference for satellite spectrum allocation to facilitate consultation by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI). This will clarify allocation methodology, frequencies, spectrum pricing, and national security terms for satellite operators.
The meeting with private telecom electronics players focused on setting sectoral priorities to expand the Indian market. Scindia highlighted that this platform would serve as the foundation for government-industry collaboration in the telecom sector. Additionally, to rapidly boost telecom equipment exports and integrate more micro small medium enterprises (MSMEs) into telecom manufacturing, the government plans to overhaul the existing PLI scheme for the telecom sector.
