Legislative and Regulatory Issues and Prospects in Indian Telecom Sector

Abstract

The telecom services signify the social and economical development of a nation. Telecommunication sector is one of the prime sectors required for transformation and development of the nation. Indian telecommunication sector has undergone a major process of evolution and progression. National telecom policy was declared in 1994 and was subsequently reformed and carried forward under National Telecom Policy 1999. Indian telecom sector is the spectator of a complete revolutionary transformation due to reformation of various policies in the last decade. It has achieved a phenomenal escalation during the last few years and is poised to take a big leap in the future also. The growth has resulted into some adverse effects like accumulation of green house gases (GHG), issues in spectrum management and paucity of energy. Increasing public demand for corporate social responsibility and an authentic desire to effect positive change in the environment are leading telecommunications service providers and their suppliers to diminish their carbon footprint. There are many emerging issues in the management of spectrum like reform of previous regulatory framework, streamlining SAFCA (Standing advisory committee on frequency allocation) clearances, delicensing spectrum bands for broadband services, spectrum trading and lack of unique global unified standard. Many industries and institutions are carrying out the research for efficient telecommunication infrastructure. This paper focuses on the issues related to energy, environment, spectrum as well as remedies to overcome the challenges. Use of renewable energy resources, effective and transparent spectrum management and one unified standard with convergence of different technologies can be the future prospects for the betterment of service providers as well as subscribers.