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Policy To Improve Broadband Proliferation In Offing: Telecom Department

The report noted that tower companies are exploring new business avenues with diversification into fibre and smart cities.

A telecom tower stands of the city skyline at dusk. (Photographer: Waldo Swiegers/Bloomberg)
A telecom tower stands of the city skyline at dusk. (Photographer: Waldo Swiegers/Bloomberg)

The Telecom Department is working on a number of recommendations made by the sector regulator and will soon come out with a policy to improve broadband proliferation in the country, a senior official said on Monday.

K Ramchand, Member (Technology), Department of Telecom, said a policy to enhance number of public wifi hotspots across the country is also in the offing, in line with the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India's suggestions.

"We are working on TRAI recommendations. We are coming out with policy where broadband proliferation will increase," Ramchand said at an event organised by the Tower and Infrastructure Providers Association.

"The policy is under the approval and shortly we will be coming out with a policy with which service providers will be encouraged to provide the infrastructure to improve broadband penetration."

He further said that policy involving E and V bands is under examination, and so is industry's demand for expansion of scope of the infrastructure providers.

"Policy under E and V bands is also under study and we will be coming out shortly with that...so that backhaul bandwidth required for service providers can be easily provided using that," he said.

At the event, industry body TAIPA and EY released a report which said that ongoing transformation in the industry exhibits revenue potential for infrastructure providers to the tune of Rs 21,500-Rs 31,000 in 2023.

The report noted that tower companies are exploring new business avenues with diversification into fibre and smart cities, and added that the industry can drive the next infrastructure revolution with the companies managing both active and passive infrastructure elements.

Prashant Singhal, Emerging Markets TMT (Technology, Media and Entertainment and Telecommunications) Leader at EY, said innovation has been at the core of telecom infrastructure industry over the last decade.

"In the next decade, the industry is well-positioned to drive the next infrastructure revolution. Now is the right time for tower cos to innovate on business models and tap on new opportunities that represent a revenue potential of Rs 21,500-Rs 31,000 in 2023," Singhal said.