New Delhi: The Department of Telecommunications<\/a> (DoT) is set to come out with a ‘forward looking’ draft telecom bill that will address sectoral issues arising due to the advent of new technologies, officials have said.
“Already, there have been 16-17 versions of the bill as DoT wants to bring out a comprehensive piece of legislation that addresses all issues concerning the sector,” said an official privy to the details. “The bill also talks about the use of over-the-top (OTT) applications and what could be the regulating mechanism.”
ET could not ascertain the measures proposed in the latest version of the bill.
Communications minister Ashwini Vaishnaw<\/a> recently said the draft telecom bill was nearly ready and would be put up for public consultation soon.
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Spotlight on apps
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Another official said the regulatory mechanism for OTT can only be finalised after recommendations of the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India<\/a> (Trai). DoT has sent a reference to the regulator on this and asked it to propose a mechanism for selective blocking of apps in case of unlawful activities.
The regulator has been asked to relook its recommendations of 2020, wherein the need to regulate such apps had been ruled out. The regulator had then said it would review its stance periodically.
The bill, which has been in the works for many months, also talks of issues around quality of service, right of way and penalty structures, among others.
Rules for data-driven networks
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At present, the telecom sector is primarily regulated under the Telegraph Act<\/a> and the Wireless Telegraphy Act. But since both legislations were framed much earlier — essentially for voice telephony and traditional networks — a need has been felt for a fresh regulation that considers the latest technologies, primarily data-driven networks.
DoT also wants to provide clarity around issues of spectrum assignment as part of the telecom bill. After the Supreme Court<\/a>’s verdict of 2012, the department was unable to take decisions around spectrum allocation, specifically administrative allocation. The bill is likely to address this and lay down clear guidelines around spectrum assignment.
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