Draft of Telecom Bill expected by Sept 23

The draft of the new Telecom Bill is expected to be released by the end of this week, and put up for public consultations soon.

Possibilities of what the new Bill will address:

• A separate set of rules to deal with insolvency for stressed telecom assets, easier merger and acquisition norms, and empowering the Centre to waive off dues of financially stressed operators.
• Put spectrum ownership in the hands of the government in case of a telecom operator goes through bankruptcy, thereby removing all ambiguity under the existing rules under IBC.
• New licence conditions and may review existing penal provisions and ways of allocating backhaul spectrum and certain bands.
• Likely to address policies relevant to the sector’s structure and would aim to enhance the ease of doing business.
• Simplify the M&A procedure, currently governed by various guidelines, leading to inordinate delays and lengthy court proceedings.
• The powers of the TRAI may change, so that the regulator may work independently and be responsible only to the Parliament.
• With digital technologies evolving, a converged law for various technologies and platforms.

The Indian Telecommunication Bill is set to consolidate three separate acts which presently govern the telecommunications sector — Indian Telegraph Act 1885, Indian Wireless Telegraphy Act 1933, and The Telegraph Wires, (Unlawful Protection) Act 1950.

CT Bureau