The much awaited National Telecom Policy 2012 (NTP-2012) was approved by Union Cabinet today and it should bring smiles to Indians, especially Entrepreneurs and Netizens. Along with the approval of NTP 2012, cabinet also approved introduction of Unified License and authorized DoT (Department of Telecommunications) to finalize the new Unified Licensing regime.
The NTP 2012 gives importance to provide secure, reliable, affordable and high quality telecom services for accelerated inclusive socio-economic development.
The Thrust Areas of NTP 2012
- Rural Teledensity – To improve rural teledensity from the current level of around 39 to 70 by the year 2017 and 100 by the year 2020
- Broadband – “’Broadband For All” at a minimum download speed of 2 Mbps
- Domestic Manufacturing – Making India a global hub
- Convergence of Network, Services and Devices
- Liberalization of Spectrum – any Service in any Technology
- Simplification of Licensing regime – Unified Licensing, delinking of Spectrum from License, Online real time submission and processing
- Consumer Focus – Achieve One Nation – Full Mobile Number Portability and work towards One Nation – Free Roaming
- Resale of Services
- VOIP – Voice over Internet Protocol
- Cloud Computing – Next Generation Network including IPV6
One thing for sure – The NTP 2012 thrust areas cover nearly all the areas which consumers have been demanding. However, as we have seen in the past, the most important aspect would be how the centre implements & executes the 10 thrust areas given above. If they are successful, Indian Economy and Indians will stand to benefit tremendously!