Overview of the Draft Telecom Policy 2025
The new draft telecom policy, released seven years after the 2018 National Digital Communications Policy, aims to set ambitious goals and missions for the telecom sector. The true challenge lies in executing these goals, a recurring issue seen with previous policies.
Key Goals and Targets
- Job Creation:
- Create 1 million jobs and reskill another 1 million in the telecom industry.
- Investment and Coverage:
- Double annual investment in the telecom sector to ₹1 trillion.
- Achieve 90% 5G population coverage by 2030.
- Roll out fixed-line broadband to 100 million households nationwide by 2030.
- Rural Broadband: Incentives for promoting fixed-line broadband in rural areas and supporting smaller internet-service providers for last-mile connectivity.
- Domestic Manufacturing: Incentives for domestic manufacturers of telecom equipment and plans to double India’s telecom research and development spending within five years.
Policy Gaps and Industry Concerns
- Lack of specifics on short-term delivery objectives.
- Insufficient discussion on the role of AI in job creation and cyberattack prevention.
- Omission of the duopoly debate and the future of state-owned telecom companies.
- Neglect of financially stressed private telcos and contemporary issues like spectrum auctions and satellite communication broadband.
Conclusion
While the current draft policy is a comprehensive wish list reflecting government aspirations, it requires a detailed roadmap for effective execution and to address the current industry challenges more substantively.
