Trai aims to bring strong recommendations on ease of doing business

Sector regulator Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) Thursday said that ease of doing business was one if its core focus areas and it would bring some stronger suggestions to the table for the government to formulate policy.

“Ease of doing business is a focus area from the perspective of stakeholders and we have issued a consultation paper and bring in solid recommendations a super industry demand,” Trai chairman RS Sharma said at an industry event.

The regulator has recently come out with a consultation paper to facilitate business operations i the country to alleviate growing industry concerns over business atmosphere in the country.

Earlier this year, the telecom watchdog has identified few issues impacting the sector’s growth after a closed-door discussion with industry stakeholders that include issues relating to consumer protection, quality of service, level-playing field and industry health.

“The telecom industry has come up with 6-7 issues and a similar number of issues were taken up in the broadcasting sector, and we are working on them simultaneously,” Sharma added.

Trai, according to him, is also revisiting the telecom tariff orders (TTO) and has formed a committee of stakeholders which is looking to do away unnecessary laws.

Sharma believes that broadband as a utility to citizens is a very important pillars of ambitious Digital india initiative on which the rest of the features are heavily relying.

“4 billion people worldwide are without internet and that includes 1 billion alone in India. This is a worrying situation,” the regulator added.

Sharma also feels that the country has a dismal number of Wi-Fi hotspots and the government should utilise India’s 2.50 lakh common service centres (CSCs) for Wi-Fi deployment for the accelerate broadband penetration.

Meanwhile, the Broadband Wireless Alliance feels that the government should release unlicensed airwaves and telecom service providers should closely work in partnership with Smart City stakeholders for better broadband penetration.

“Unlicensed spectrum should be released as per the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) recommendation and telcos should forge right kind of partnerships with Smart City providers,” senior director at Broadband Wireless Alliance Paramjit Singh Puri said.

Puri said that Wi-Fi networks were critical to further fuel digital connectivity in India, and added that a right set of recommendations would help in mitigating existing challenges.