NATIONAL TELECOM POLICY-2012 (NTP-2012)
- The Government announced NTP 2012. The main objectives of the policy, inter-alia, include:
- Increase in rural tele-density to 70% by the year 2017 and 100% by the year 2020,
- 175 million broadband connections by 2017 and 600 million by the year 2020 at minimum 2 Mbps download speed and making available higher speeds of at least 100 Mbps on demand.
- Unified License:
- With a view to achieve the objective of NTP-2012 to create one nation – one license across services and service areas, the Department of Telecom (DoT) has issued guidelines on Unified License. As per these guidelines, the allocation of spectrum is de-linked from the license and has to be obtained separately as per prescribed procedure i.e. bidding process. Only one Unified License is required for all telecom services in the entire country.
- In addition, authorization for various services [like access services, National Long Distance Services, International Long Distance Services, Internet Service Provider (ISF) services] will be required separately.
- Single authorization for Unified License (All services) category would cover all telecom services except ISP (B) and ISP (C) services. The tenure of such authorization will run concurrently with the Unified License. Also, the entry fee for various telecom services has been reduced substantially.
- Merger and Amalgamation Policy: A revised policy for merger and amalgamation of companies holding various licenses for telecom services has been issued on 20th February 2011. The market share limit for transfer and merger of licenses has been increased to 50% from existing 35% i.e. merger will be allowed where the market share of the combined entity in the respective service area is up to 50%.
- Spectrum Auction: NTP-2012 envisages adequate availability of spectrum and its allocation in a transparent manner through market related process. Auction of spectrum in 900 MHZ band and 1800 MHZ band was conducted during February, 2014. The total amount of $61162 crore obtained through auction of spectrum was 27.6% more than the value of the spectrum on offer at reserve price.
- Foreign Direct investment (FDI) Policy: To attract FDI inflow and make the sector more attractive and investor friendly, Government raised FDI limit for the telecom services from 74% to 100% in 2013. Reserve Bank of India has also expanded the existing definition for infrastructure sector for the purpose of availing External Commercial Borrowing (ECB).
- Universal Service Obligation Fund (USOF): To give impetus to the rural telephony, the Government in June, 2002 established a Universal Service Obligation Fund (USOF) by an Act of Parliament. The Universal Access Levy (UAL) collection in 2013-14 was it 7,885 crore and subsidy disbursed during the said period was $2163.45 crore. The closing balance of the UAL amount, available as potential fund for USOF accrual as on 31.03.2014, was $ 33,671.69 crore.
- National Optical Fiber Network (NOFN): To connect all 5 lakh Gram panchayats in the country, Government approved a project called ‘National Optical Fibre Network’. Non-discriminatory access to the network will be provided to all the telecom service providers like mobile, Internet and cable TV in rural areas. The project is being executed by a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV), namely, Bharat Broadband Networks Limited (BBNL). The NOFN project is likely to be completed by December, 2016.
- Mobile Communication Services in Left Wing Extremism affected areas: Government approved in 2013 a proposal to install mobile towers at 2199 identified locations in 9 Left Wing Extremism (LWE) affected States. The work has been awarded to Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) and the project would be funded by USOF for five years.
- Shared Mobile Infrastructure Scheme: Scheme was launched by USOF to provide subsidy support for setting up and managing 7,353 infrastructure sites/towers in 500 districts where there was no existing fixed wireless or mobile coverage.
- Rural Wire-line Broadband Scheme: For providing wire—line broadband connectivity upto village level in rural and remote areas, USOF signed an agreement with BSNL under the Rural Wire-line Broadband Scheme to provide wire-line broadband connectivity to rural & remote areas by leveraging the existing rural exchages infrastructure and copper wire-line network. The speed of each of the broadband connections shall be at least 512 Kbps.
- Regulatory Framework: The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has always endeavoured to encourage greater competition in the telecom sector together with better quality and affordable prices in order to meet the objectives of New Telecom Policy 1999.
- Research & Development (R&D): C-DoT, an autonomous body, is DoT’s R&D arm. The organisation which was set-up 26 years back is committed to providing a wide range of cost-effective, indigenously developed and state-of-the-art total telecom solutions. C-DoT is also entrusted with the projects of national importance, like Central Monitoring System for telecom security and Secure Network for strategic applications.
