Lok Sabha Question No. 6092 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2018-04-04
Subject: New Telecom Policy
Ministry: COMMUNICATIONS
Asked by: UDAY PRATAP SINGH

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF COMMUNICATIONS DEPARTMENT OF TELECOMMUNICATIONS

## LOK  SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO.6092 TO BE ANSWERED ON 4 TH  APRIL, 2018

## NEW TELECOM POLICY

†6092. SHRI UDAY PRATAP SINGH:

Will the Minister of COMMUNICATIONS be pleased to state:

- (a) the salient features of the National Telecommunication Policy 2018 issued by Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI);
- (b) whether  the  Government  proposes  to  implement  the  said  policy  and  if  so,  the  details thereof and the time by which it is likely to be implemented; and
- (c) the  socio-economic  benefits  that  are  likely  to  be  accrued  to  the  lower  strata  of  the society in view of the linking of rural areas with internet?

## ANSWER

## THE MINISTER OF STATE (IC) OF THE MINISTRY OF COMMUNICATIONS & MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF RAILWAYS (SHRI MANOJ SINHA)

- (a) Telecommunication  Regulatory  Authority  of  India  (TRAI)  has  submitted  inputs  to  the Department  of  Telecommunications  (DoT)  regarding  National  Telecom  Policy  -  2018  (NTP2018). The salient features of TRAI inputs on Vision, Mission and Objectives of NTP-2018 are at Annexure.
- (b) The  DoT  has  initiated  the  process  to  formulate  NTP-2018.  As  part  of  its  consultation process,  the  DoT  had  sought  inputs  from  TRAI,  academia  and  other  stakeholders,  besides setting  up  of  theme  based  working  groups  in  DoT.  The  policy  inputs  of  TRAI,  inputs  from academia and other stakeholders and recommendations of the DoT working groups are under consideration with the Government and will be suitably considered in the preparation of NTP2018, which is in progress and is likely to be completed soon.
- (c) The  growth  of  data  communication  services  is  an  enabler  in  enhancing  the  socioeconomic conditions in rural and remote areas. The internet has proven to be a facilitator to access opportunities and to deliver services in various sectors including education, health, rural development, e-governance, among others. Considering the utility of internet access, relevant content and services, their delivery at affordable prices to the people of all sections of society would be a game changer in their lives  -  bringing transformation  in the  delivery,  access  and utilization of services and opportunities. Bridging the digital divide will go a long way in bridging the economic divide, thus enabling growth and development, bringing socio-economic benefits.

## TRAI's INPUTS ON NATIONAL TELECOM POLICY-2018 REGARDING VISION, MISSION AND OBJECTIVES

## Vision

To  develop  a  competitive,  sustainable,  and  investor-friendly  Information  and  Communication Technologies  (ICT)  market  for  rollout  of  state-of-the-art  ubiquitous  digital  communication infrastructure  to  provide  resilient,  reliable,  affordable,  and  consumer  friendly  products  and services to meet local as well as global needs; and in the process, transform India's knowledge economy, support inclusive development, foster innovation, and stimulate job creation.

## Mission

1. To fulfil  the  information and  communication needs of the individuals including persons with disabilities, governments, enterprises, and industries with high quality of experience at affordable prices on a sustainable basis;
2. To facilitate growth of state-of-the-art, secure, and energy-efficient digital communication infrastructure for delivering ubiquitous, resilient, reliable and ultra-high speed connectivity with extremely low latency for objects, machines, and devices;
3. To  stimulate  the  environment  for  innovation  and  entrepreneurial  opportunities  making India a global centre for research and development, patent-creation, and standardization in Information and Communication Technologies and services;
4. To develop indigenous technologies, equipments, platforms, and applications ecosystem for providing digital services to local and global markets;
5. To establish India as a global hub for cloud computing, content hosting and delivery, and data communication systems and services in a net-neutral environment;
6. To  protect  consumers'  interests  by  increasing  awareness  and  putting  in  place  an effective  grievance  redressal  mechanism,  improving  quality  of  experience,  ensuring network,  communication  and  data  security,  encouraging  adoption  of  environment  and safety standards for ICT, and modernizing public safety and emergency communications networks;
7. To  attract  investments  by  enhancing  ease  of  doing  business  through  simplification  of licensing and  regulatory frameworks,  rationalization of taxes, levies and  related compliances, and facilitating availability of resources including spectrum.

## Objectives

1. To enable access at affordable prices for wireless broadband services, including through satellite to 90% population by 2022;
2. To ensure availability of bandwidth on demand through wireline, including cable TV and optical fibre networks to 30% households by 2020 and 50% households by 2022;
3. To provide at least 1 Gbps data connectivity to all Gram Panchayats to enable wireless broadband services to inhabitants by 2022;
4. To achieve 900 million broadband subscriptions supporting download speed of 2 Mbps, out of that at-least 150 million broadband subscriptions supporting download speed of 20 Mbps and 25 million at a download speed of 50 Mbps by 2022;
5. To  achieve  'unique  mobile  subscriber  density'  of  55  by  2020  and  65  by  2022  by enhancing mobile network coverage to 95% of inhabitants by 2020 and 100% by 2022;
6. To deploy 2 million public WLAN including Wi-Fi hotspots in the country by 2020 and 5 million by 2022;
7. To leapfrog India into the top-50 nations in the ICT Development Index (IDI), released by ITU every year, by 2022;
8. To enable access for connecting to 1 billion IoT/ M2M sensors/ devices by 2020 and 5 billion by 2022;
9. To attract an investment equivalent to USD 60 billion in communication sector by 2020 and USD 100 billion by 2022;
10. To become net positive in international trade of communication systems and services by 2022;
11. To create 2 million additional jobs in ICT sector by 2022;
12. To put in place an ombudsman based consumer grievance redressal mechanism by end of 2018;
13. To establish online centralised platform for provision of Right of Way (RoW) permissions for single window clearance by 2019;
14. To achieve backhaul connectivity on optical fibre for at least 60% base stations by 2022;
15. To  put  in  place  an  online  platform  for  all  Government  to  Business  (G2B)  activities including spectrum and license related information, applications, clearances, compliances, and payments by 2019;
16. To simplify licensing and regulatory frameworks, and rationalize taxes, levies and related compliances by 2019;
17. To put in place a flexible, robust data protection regime powered by a strong encryption policy by 2019;
18. To establish a policy framework for facilitating setting up of data centres by 2019.

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