The Indian Telecommunication Bill, 2022 is expected to replace the Indian Telecom Act, 1985. Indian Wireless Telegraphic Act, 1933 and Telegraph Wires Act, 1905. It aims at creating minimum but effective regulations, regulatory certainty, right-of- way (RoW) mechanism, protection of users and promotion of innovation and employment.

The existing legislations governed the telecom sector for the last 100 years. There is convergence of technology now — telecommunications, IT and media, so far distinct, have now converged in various ways. All could be synergistic in a new eco-system. There are cross-sector financing, cross-platform developments and manipulation of information. The legacy sector operated in silos, independent of each other. There were sector-specific regulations Technology has now two dimensions — technical and functional. Technical aspects refer to the ability to transport any type of data. Functional aspects refer to integrate the data seamlessly through apps for the consumers. Broadcasting sector has contributions from cable TV, telecom service providers and IT companies. Thus there is a need to address the issues emerging out of convergence. The Bill is a step in this direction. The Bill must be clear about the definitions of certain words. There is an issue of the dilution of the power of TRAI. Licensing should not extend to the use of internet in various organisations such as data centres, cloud services, hospitals and smart grids. The Bill must provide these safeguards.

The telecom service providers must assume the responsibility and accountability of the delivery of services to the users. The sector must set up its own quality standards.

The Bill attempts to regulate both content and carriage. It could be confusing. There are many unlicensed components. They use the infrastructure of licensed TSPs who use radio spectrum. A blanket inclusion of everything under license regimen by itself will be a regressive step.

There should be clear distinction among carriage, content and applications. There should be proper sector-specific allocation of expertise between Ministry of Information and Broadcasting and Ministry of Electronics and IT. The three areas of content, carriage and apps can have separate specific legislations.

The revised telecom Bill will list the guidelines for satellite or orbit spectrum. Several stakeholders have argued for separate provisions. It is a limited resource used for satellite broadcasting, communication satellite and weather satellite services. Terrestrial spectrum refers to the transmission of signals through radio waves from earth-based transmitters. ISRO feels that satellite spectrum should not be regulated as a part of the revised Bill, but should be regulated separately.