New National Telecom Policy (NTP) 2011 Of India

Telecom Policy of India is one of the most important Policies of India. For some strange reason, the Telecom Policy of India was poorly drafted and badly implemented. Naturally, there were many “Loopholes” that gave rise to scams, bad policy decisions, financial losses to Governmental exchequer, poor consumer performances and so on.

That is a thing of past as Government of India is now planning to introduce the new National Telecom Policy (NTP) of India 2011. Although the intentions are good yet the actual execution and implementation of this intention is missing. Further, the efforts of Indian Government in general and Ministry of Communication and Information technology (MCIT) in particular are “Vague” and “Non Holistic”.

There are various “Crucial Components” of any sound, effective and robust Telecom Policy. These include, issues pertaining to Encryption, Telecom Security, wider Broadband Penetration, Telecom Equipment Security, E-Surveillance and Phone Tapping Policies, Lawful Interceptions and Eavesdropping Policies, Harmonisation of National Security and Civil liberties, etc.

I have labeled the present efforts of Indian Government and MCIT as vague and non holistic because these components must be an “Essential and Integral Part” of the proposed Indian National Telecom Policy (NTP) 2011. However, instead of being a “Composite Telecom Policy” the proposed Policy is not even considering these aspects “Singularly” and “Individually”. In short, these components are “Missing” from the proposed Telecom Policy of India.

This would again produce a Policy Document that would be “Open and Prone” to many sorts of Irregularities and Misuses. Consumer and Telecom Companies Disputes, Privacy Violations cases, Civil Liberties Violations, etc may also arise in future.

Fortunately, till now the new Telecom Policy of India 2011 has not been formulated and implemented. The concerns and suggestions mentioned above can still be incorporated in the same by MCIT Minister Kapil Sibal and Government of India.

Norms For Import Of Telecom Equipments In India

Import of telecom equipments, especially for India, has never been smooth. Security agencies of India have been raising concerns regarding possibility of “backdoors” in hardware and software of foreign vendors.

India has no institution or department that can check malware in hardware and software. India has to depend upon other countries like UK for testing of imported hardware and software.

In this entire exercise, the import of hardware of foreign vendors has been affected to a great extent. On the request of these foreign vendors, Indian government assured that the matter would be expedited very soon.

Meanwhile, Kapil Sibal, Minister of department of communication and information technology and department of telecommunications has shown his support for indigenously manufactured hardware and software.

Now the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) has asked the communication and home ministries to ensure that new norms for import of telecom equipment are in place by the month-end. The original deadline was October-end 2010, and the PMO in a May 20 communication to these ministries has asked them to complete the process by May-end, and ensure no further extension becomes necessary'.

At present, India has two separate policy guidelines for import of telecom gear. Chinese vendors such as Huawei and ZTE follow the July 2010 guidelines while Western telecom equipment manufacturers were given the option of following the policy issued in late 2009, after they refused to operate in India under the July rules.

In August 2010, the PMO had asked the ministries to review the strict security standards unveiled during the previous month (July) after they were being labelled "too tough" by foreign telecom gearmakers. Western vendors and business lobbies in the US, Europe and Japan have been pressuring India to overturn the July 2010 rules.

The PMO had given both ministries two months to come up with a revised code of standards more aligned to procedures being followed globally, but these are yet to be notified. In the interim period, imports of telecom gear from China resumed after its companies agreed to adhere to the stringent rules.

There are many crucial areas that have to be covered by the present norms. Let us see how successful the Indian government would be in meeting these requirements.

Parliamentary Standing Committee On IT Angry With DOT

Second generation (2G) spectrum irregularities took entire India for a shock. Even an entire session of Parliament of India was wiped out protesting against 2G scam and for raising a demand for formulation of a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC).

After much discussions and protests, a JPC was constituted that finished its enquiry. Simultaneously, Parliament's Public Accounts Committee (PAC) also submitted its report in this regard.

Now the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Information Technology has found the Department of Telecom (DoT) guilty of not cancelling 74 licences for the Unified Access Services (UAS) as recommended by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI). It suspects something basically wrong with DoT in favouring the defaulters instead of punishing them.

The defaulter companies include those who were given licences tweaking the rules and who are now facing the CBI probe. The committee is understood to have noted in its report that the telecom firms that faulted in rolling out the services should have been dealt with sternly.

Meanwhile, Minster of Department of Information Technology and DoT Kapil Sibal has decided to streamline the telecom policy of India. The current national telecom policy of India was badly drafted and dishonestly implemented. After the 2G scam a need was felt to have a new telecom policy for India. In this background, the national telecom policy of India 2011 was proposed.

Further, a draft National Frequency Allocation Plan (NFAP) of India 2011 has also been proposed to effectively utilise the scarce frequency of India. Kapil Sibal is definitely doing a good job in bringing order in the otherwise chaosed Indian telecom world.