The Cabinet has approved New Telecom Policy 2012 that would let telecom users avail free roaming across the country. It would also offer Full Mobile Number Portability (MNP) that would let the customers retain their number even if they shift from one circle to another, anywhere in the country without any extra charges.
This would introduce single license across India under a new unified licence regime and the operators doesn’t need separate license. Under this licensing regime, licence has been delinked from spectrum to reduce different licenses.
The new policy would separate licences and airwaves, allowing carriers to share airwaves. There is no time frame when the new policy would be implemented. Pricing and spectrum allocation would be announced later.
The Department of Telecom (DoT) will now start process to implement full mobile number portability allowing users to retain their existing number at the time of changing their service providers across any state in the country.
However, consumers will have to wait for some time before roaming charges are abolished and one-number-one-nation concept implement as DoT will first work out modalities of the new scheme before it is brought into force.
The NTP 2012 envisages increasing penetration of telecom services in rural area from current level of around 39 to 70 per cent by 2017 and 100 per cent by the year 2020.
Under the new policy broadband speed has been increased to minimum of 2 megabit per second (mbps). This change will come into force with immediate effect.
With the new policy getting approved, telecom licences have been delinked from spectrum which was earlier bundled with the licences.
The NTP 2012 will allow operators to provide services based on any technology by using airwaves and will not restrict them to use it for particular service using any specific frequency band.
At present, there are frequencies which are specifically used for providing GSM or CDMA services as per the permit given to the companies.
Post by Prabu Rangarajan
Better Late than Never....Thank you...so we can expect some more Good News as A.P. bypolls, Gujarat & Himachal State Elections are at the corner and 2014 elections are coming...
ReplyDeleteHmm good to here this topic and if it will start it at that everyone can be happy with this technology.
ReplyDelete