New Telecom Policy be brought in next session of Parliament
New Delhi sources reported that Sinha on the sidelines of 'Deendayal SPARSH Yojana' award ceremony that "The new telecom policy is almost ready, and, this month, we will place it on the Department's website for public comments and they will bring it in the next session of Parliament". Meanwhile he said the recent Cabinet nod to the telecom relief package that entails giving more time to companies to pay for the spectrum they bought as well as liberalized spectrum caps will ensure that the historic success of the sector continues unabated.
The Telecom Minister said "The telecom sector has enjoyed a successful history and this will ensure that the success continues and that India continues to get good connectivity". Further the Telecom companies will have an "option" to either go for the new payment schedule for spectrum or continue under the existing arrangement.
Furthermore the cabinet relaxed caps on holding spectrum, helping ongoing
mergers like that between Vodafone and Idea as the combined entity would have
breached the current limits in certain circles or telecom zones. Moreover in
line with the Cabinet decision, Department of Telecom (DoT) amended license
norms of service providers to increase number of installments for spectrum
payments and radio waves frequency holding limit.