India unveils draft telecom policy

摘要

India's telecom minister has unveiled a draft version of the country's National Telecom Policy 2011 that seeks to cover all aspects of the sector. The new policy comes in the wake of the licensing scandal of 2008/09 that may have cost the state up to US$39 billion in lost revenue. The minister announced a variety of plans designed to modernize the Indian market, such as permitting cellcos to share spectrum, allowing consolidation via M&A activity, the release of 300MHz of additional spectrum in 2017 and a further 200MHz in 2020, and forcing operators to provide roaming between the country's telecom circles.