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Telecommunications

India

The availability of bandwidth is vital for the operation of telecommunications services, but it is a scarce resource. The Telecommunications Regulatory Authority of India has therefore proposed guidelines for the adoption of spectrum sharing. It is hoped that this will lead to optimum utilisation of this resource and enable licensed telecommunications operators to expand their services in the country.

The Department of Telecommunications recently issued a notification amending the licence for security-related concerns for the expansion of telecommunications services in India. The notification supersedes all previous amendments issued by the department in respect of security clearance and makes a telecommunications licensee company completely responsible for the security of its network.

There have been a number of recent significant developments in the Indian telecommunications sector, aimed at making the sector more beneficial for both service providers and consumers. Driven by various policy initiatives, the sector has witnessed a complete transformation in the last decade, achieving phenomenal growth during the last few years and poised to take a big leap in the future.

The Department of Telecommunications, the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology and the government recently issued the Guidelines for Mobile Number Portability Service Licence. Mobile number portability allows a subscriber to retain an existing mobile telephone number within the same service area when changing from one service provider or operator to another.