Airtel CEO Hails Telecom Bill 2023 as Progressive and Forward Looking

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Bharti Airtel’s MD and CEO, Gopal Vittal hailed the Telecom Bill 2023 tabled in Lok Sabha on Monday. India’s union telecom and IT minister, Ashwini Vaishnaw tabled the bill and it has made many industry players extremely happy. Airtel, a major telecom operator in India, has said that the bill is progressive and forward-looking.

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“I would like to warmly compliment the Government for introducing a progressive and forward-looking Telecommunications Bill in the Parliament. The bill suggests groundbreaking reforms by streamlining India’s licensing landscape. It aims to simplify the current convoluted system, which includes various types of licensing (license, registration, permission), into a more cohesive and efficient authorization-based regime,” said Gopal Vittal.

Further, Vittal has said that the bill takes the reforms announced for SUC (spectrum usage charges) in 2021 ahead for the industry. The bill talks about various things related to the spectrum such as reforming, harmonisation, and more. Vittal believes that with the new bill covering the telecom sector, a robust digital infra can be ensured.

Vittal said, “The seminal spectrum reforms initiated in 2021 eliminated SUC for future spectrum assignments and provided the option of moratorium of past spectrum dues and annual spectrum roadmap. These reforms have now gained further momentum under the proposed Telecommunications Bill 2023. The proposed legislation ensures predictability and availability of spectrum covering aspects such as refarming, harmonization and trading/leasing/sharing. This will lead to the creation of a robust digital infrastructure and increased penetration of services thereby benefitting every Indian.”

Airtel’s CEO also praised the reform on RoW (right of way) that the bill brings. It will help with rolling out 5G faster in India. The implementation of the central RoW rules at the local level in different regions has always been a challenge for the telcos as well as the infrastructure provider (IP) companies.

Here’s what Vittal said about it – “The proposed reform on RoW is yet another seminal move that is set to accelerate the rollout of telecom infrastructure including 5G in the country. This move will provide the necessary enforceability of Central RoW rules at the local level. Provisions related to public and private property; common ducts further instill confidence in the industry for faster rollout.”

The new telecom bill 2023 also restructures penalties to ensure that the cash-stressed sector can get some relief. The penalty framework has been simplified which will make it easy for the companies to understand the penalties and calculate them as well. The aim of the govt was also to reduce litigations, which takes time and money for the telcos. Thus, now the telecom players can use the appeal process within the government to reach a more efficient solution for the dispute.

“Another pivotal reform involves the restructuring of penalties, as the government simplifies the penalty framework regime under the proposed Bill. This will be achieved through a tiered system of graded penalties proportionate to the breach. The introduction of a voluntary undertaking and an appeal process within the Government aims to mitigate litigations thereby promoting more efficient resolution of disputes,” Vittal said.

In his closing remarks on the bill, Vittal concluded, “the Government has rightfully retained oversight of telecom networks from a sovereign security perspective, a requirement integral to India’s Telecom licenses over the last two decades.”

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