Union Minister for Communications, Electronics and Information Technology Ashwini Vaishnav. file | Photo credit: The Hindu
Minister of Railways, Communications, and Electronics and Information Technology Ashwini Vaishnav on Tuesday weighed in on the demand of telecom companies that over-the-top (OTT) communication apps pay a “usage fee” to operators based on how much traffic the latter carries. them on your network.
“There’s a global movement, there’s a global discussion [on OTT apps]There are a lot of regulatory changes happening all over the world,” said Mr. Vaishnav. “Telecom is an industry where everything is benchmarked to the world. Whatever we do will be in line with global trends.
Mr. Vaishnav was speaking at a press conference announcing his winning of the GSM Association’s GLOMO Award for Government Leadership at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona. Mr Vaishnav credited the award given annually to a country for “world-class leadership in setting strong telecom regulatory policies” for the government’s role in transforming the telecom sector.
Read also: Towards Transparency in OTT Regulation
Mr. Vaishnav said that the target of covering at least 200 districts with 5G technology was met well before the proposed date of March 31. [base stations],” he said. “85% [telecom tower] Permissions are being done immediately.
major reform
But Draft Indian Telecom Bill, 2022, which was published for public comments last year, the IT minister said the government is looking to pass it from the monsoon session of Parliament. The bill will bring “major reforms[s],” said Sri Vaishnav. “We are working on all the inputs received from various ministries, stakeholders, industry participants, global bodies and other regulators in the sector, such as the Directorate General of Civil Aviation and the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India.”
On making those information publicly available, Mr. Vaishnav said, “Even before we published the first draft [of the Bill], we published a pre-consultation paper. Based on that paper, we came up with the first draft. Then, lots and lots of inputs were received. Based on those inputs, we are preparing another draft. That draft, before we go to the Parliament, you will see it all.”
Asked whether the final draft of the bill would be subject to public consultation, the minister said Parliament is the voice of the people, and parliamentary committees “have a duty to perform”.
vodafone idea
On beleaguered telecom operator Vodafone Idea Ltd, Mr Vaishnav said the survival of the telecom operator was vital. “There is no default [on payments from Vodafone Idea], ” he said. “The company is stressed, it needs capital. The more capital backing it gets, the better.’ Pressed on offering government support to the telco, Mr Vaishnav joked, “Look, there are many things which should not be discussed openly.”