RS Sharma, the chairman of TRAI (Telecom Regulatory Authority of India), said on Wednesday that tendering tele firms to pay for everything is an obdurate idea. He further stressed that these services and other infrastructure must be negotiated on a criterion with essentials like water and electricity.
The infra of telecoms must be as essential as the pipes for water, electricity, or the infrastructure for television. While addressing the Connecting Bharat digital conference organized by the Broadband India Forum, Sharma said that the authorities start debiting for everything when it comes to telecom service provides, which is obdurate.
In July, Sunil Mittal, Bharti Airtel Ltd chairman, had moved to center to review the taxes imposed on tele firms. He also asked to include charges on spectrum and license, stating that these resources must not become a source of income for the bursary (1).
India Needs to Ramp Up its Broadband Infrastructure
Sharma stated that the country must upgrade its infrastructure for broadband as the wireless networks still have problems with its reliability and continuity. The Government of India could also use cables of the television network to build infrastructure for broadband.
State governments must have single-window clearance and understand that the telecom infrastructure is essential. Sharma further added that data consumption has towered due to the COVID-19 lockdown. It has also revealed gaps in the telecom services and challenges in the connectivity. The central government is flagging to implement 5G technology in India to fulfill the high demand for data.
