Telecom Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw assures for more reforms and robust 5G eco system at the Digital Infrastructure Providers Association event
Telecom Minister Ashwini
Vaishnaw today assured the sector of more reforms, but asked the industry to
ensure high quality and standards by improving service quality speaking at the annual
event organised of the Digital Infrastructure Providers Association.
The Minister said the
government was trying to move ahead on all suggestions and demands of the
industry and it also expected the industry to delivery top quality services.
“You can’t clap with only
one hand, both hands are needed. It cannot be that just we keep doing what you
ask. You also have to do what we ask,” he said.
Vaishnaw cited reforms in
the telecom sector and reassured the industry that the government’s approach
would always be of a partner and will bring in laws and regulations for more
reforms also as required.
“The Telecom
regulatory framework has to be world class. It has to be globally benchmarked. And
time has come that other countries should come and copy India’s laws, not the
other way round. That is the target he has set for us. Not an easy task! To
come up to the Prime Minister’s expectations, it requires a lot of work.”
The minister informed that the
next big reform will be around Telecom Bill. He said that the draft would be
placed for public consultation by next week weekend. The Bill will provide
legal backing to Right of Way actions, providing an enabling framework for
reducing timelines for approvals and mooting remedies for damage to fibres and
towers, he informed.
Vaishnaw gave the example of
the Railway land lease policy. The cost would now not be linked to the value of
the land and approval processes will be simple and within a week. Costs have
been rationalised and charges fixed to Rs 1,000 for optical fibres crossing
from below railway track.
"I will be requesting
the Department (Telecom Department) to send a new consultation paper to TRAI
for significantly increasing the quality of service parameters almost making 3X
or 4X of what it is today, so whatever is the quality of service we are seeing,
should now improve significantly," he said DIPA event
The minister added that
field officers have been instructed to check quality of services tighten up the
telecom operators where the service quality is not up to the mark.
Vaishnaw asked the industry to look for
sustainable solutions to reduce carbon footprint for power consumption in
telecom towers from renewable energy or green hydrogen.
The Minister also spoke on
5G on the occasion. He expressed confidence that the journey of 5G should be a
great success for Indian Telecom sector. “While many countries took multiple
years to reach 40-50% coverage, we are targeting a very aggressive timeline. We
should definitely cover at least 80% in a very short timeframe.”
He also asked the industry to
revert with their internal workings on targets and timelines on 5G.