The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has released recommendations on the ‘Framework for Service Authorisations to be Granted Under the Telecommunications Act, 2023’.

The Department of Telecommunications (DoT) through a letter dated June 21, 2024, informed TRAI that the Telecommunications Act, 2023 has been published in the official gazette of India and the section 3(1)(a) of the act provides for obtaining an authorisation by any entity/ person intending to provide telecommunication services, subject to such terms and conditions, including fees or charges, as may be prescribed. With the letter, DoT also shared a background note on related aspects, including relevant sections of the new act that may have a bearing on the terms and conditions of authorisations.

DoT, through the said letter dated June 21, 2024, under section 11(1)(a) of the TRAI Act, 1997 (as amended), requested TRAI to provide recommendations on terms and conditions, including fees or charges, for authorisation to provide telecommunication services as per the provisions of the Telecommunications Act 2023.

In this regard, TRAI issued a consultation paper on the ‘Framework for the Service Authorisations to be Granted Under the Telecommunications Act, 2023’ on July 11, 2024 providing the background information, and seeking comments and counter comments from stakeholders on 61 issues raised in the consultation paper.

In response to the issues raised in the consultation paper, 48 stakeholders furnished comments, and 17 stakeholders furnished counter comments. As part of the consultation process, TRAI conducted an open house discussion (OHD) on the consultation paper through virtual mode on August 21, 2024. After the OHD, seven stakeholders furnished additional written submissions. During the consultation process, stakeholders participated very actively and provided detailed inputs in response to the issues raised in the consultation paper. In all, 21 associations, 22 service providers, six companies and organisations, and one consumer organisation furnished written submissions running over 1700 pages, while over 250 participants attended the OHD.

Based on the comments received from stakeholders during the consultation process, and on its own analysis, TRAI has finalised the recommendations on the ‘Framework for Service Authorisations to be Granted Under the Telecommunications Act, 2023’. These recommendations are aimed at a significant revamp of the existing telecommunication service licensing regime in the country and at fostering growth and enhancing ease of doing business in the sector. Through these recommendations, TRAI has recommended a new service authorisation framework, apart from detailed terms and conditions of various service authorisations to be granted under the Telecommunications Act, 2023.

The terms and conditions to be included in the different rules for different service authorisations have also been recommended. In total, there are 14 rules for recommended service authorisations. Some of the salient points of these recommendations are,

  • The central government should grant service authorisation under section 3(1) of the Telecommunications Act, 2023 instead of entering into an agreement with the entity.
  • The authorisation should be a concise document, containing the essential elements and the terms and conditions for a service authorisation should be prescribed through the rules to be notified under the Telecommunications Act, 2023.
  • The broad contours of various service authorisations including the eligibility conditions, scope of service, validity period etc. should be in the form of rules for grant of service authorisations.
  • The main service authorisations cover all primary telecommunication services that are involved in the delivery of telecommunication services to public at large such as access services, internet services, long distance services, satellite-based telecommunication services and M2M WAN services.
  • Captive service authorisation covers the service authorisations for establishment of captive network after obtaining assignment of spectrum from central government, such as CMRTS, CNPN, Captive VSAT CUG etc. Each service authorisation will be governed by different terms and conditions to be prescribed through different specific rule for each service authorisation.
  • TRAI has also asked the central government to provide a glide path leading to financial accounting and reporting, assignment of numbering resources, assignment of spectrum at a national level for unified service authorised entity.
  • The authorised entities have been permitted to take telecommunication resources on lease or hire from cloud service providers, which are either empanelled by the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY), Government of India as cloud service providers, or are authorised under section 3(1) of the Telecommunications Act, 2023. The cloud is to be situated in India.
  • Under the new authorisation framework, the scope of extant audio conferencing/ audiotex/ voice mail service authorisation has been enhanced to include cloud-based EPABX service, and the authorisation has been renamed as ‘Enterprise Communication Service Authorisation’.

Further TRAI has also recommended entry fee for main service authorisations, auxiliary service authorisations and captive service authorisations.