Business Recorder (BR) Research

Is the wait finally over? Last week the Ministry of Information Technology and Telecom (MoIT) announced that it had sent the draft “Telecommunication Policy 2015” to the ECC for approval. Recall that the first consultative draft was published in July last year, followed by a revised draft in October. It seems that the consultation process is over and the ball lies in the cabinet’s court.

While the prospect of policy renewal, after a hiatus of nearly seven years, is welcomed, this column would like to highlight that an approved policy won’t cut it alone as it will be a starting point. After the policy approval, segment policies or frameworks would be in order. For instance, the authorities would require separate frameworks for areas such as broadband penetration, spectrum management, USF operations, telecom infrastructure development, satellite connectivity, useful connectivity, etc.

Now the draft policy touches upon nearly all important subjects. (For a brief, critical overview, read BR Research story, “Telecom policy review, finally!” published on July 9, 2014). The MoIT started the policy review process soon after the new minister took the charge and conducted the process in a consultative manner, for which they deserve kudos.

But the review process has been slow. The IT and Telecom minister was expected to announce the new framework’s approval by December end last year. Now that the policy is in the ECC’s court, one wonders how long will the wait be. ECC has been known to sit on policy drafts for quite some time before taking them up. One hopes the approval process will be more efficient for the said draft.

It must be noted that the current government has taken some corrective steps in the telecom arena. For instance, there is an ongoing crackdown on grey telephony and Sims verification process is also in full swing. It delivered the much-awaited 3G/4G auction, which had also been languishing for years. So it is fair to ask why criticize a slow policy review process when there was none at all in the five years before this government took charge?

The point here is that in technological matters, time is of the essence. The local digital landscape is shifting, thanks to rapid uptake of mobile broadband in the country. (There were over 10 million 3G subscriptions as of February and, after eight months of service launch, as per PTA statistics). The authorities need to get segment policies out soon, so as to address the urban-rural imbalance of broadband penetration and the resulting impact on social and economic interactions.

The telecom authorities’ mandate goes beyond commercialization of communication technologies and extends to socializing technological use across geographies and income groups. So it is advisable to get that policy framework approved soon; specify broadband usage and digital capabilities’ milestones, and get the public and private sector bodies working to achieve those goals.

This article was originally published on April 09, 2015 by Business Recorder (BR) research.