Telecom sector to see more reforms in coming years, says Ashwini Vaishnaw

Telecom Sector in the country will witness more reforms in coming years and the industry too will have to do its bit by improving the quality of service, Ashwini Vaishnaw said

Telecom Sector in the country will witness more reforms in coming years and the industry too will have to do its bit and reciprocate by improving the quality of service significantly, Union Minister for Communications, Electronics and Information Technology, Ashwini Vaishnaw said.

Addressing the Annual Flagship Event 2022 of the Digital Infrastructure Providers Association (DIPA) on Wednesday, the Union Minister said, "Service quality parameters have to be significantly increased, and the Telecom Department should approach the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) in this regard. Telecom Department should send a new consultation paper to TRAI for significantly increasing the quality-of-service parameters almost making it 3X or 4X of what it is today."

The Minister further said that the journey of 5G is going to be very exciting and noted that many countries took multiple years to reach 40 per cent to 50 per cent coverage adding that the government is targeting a very aggressive timeline and has given a target of 80 per cent coverage in the short time frame.

"The industry including Telecom Operators and Infrastructure Providers to move full steam ahead on improving quality of services in the country, now that a slew of reforms had been announced and more were lined up. Initiatives cannot be one-sided, and the equation has to be reciprocal," he added.

The Minister of State for Communications Devusinh Chauhan also addressed the event and said that our country is transforming from developing into a developed country and the Telcom Sector's role is crucial in achieving this.

Referring to Prime Minister's Reform, Perform and Transform, Chauhan said that this should be the slogan of this sector to move ahead.

"The last mile connectivity is very crucial for the development of the telecom sector. Operators should work hard in this direction. The 5G connectivity should play a major role in providing Health, Education, Mining, Transportation, Logistics fields etc. DIPA should play a pivotal role in this regard," he added.

The theme of this year's Annual Flagship Event was "Gati Shakti Vision for 5G and Beyond".

During the event, EY-DIPA's White paper titled 'GatiShakti -- paving the way for an accelerated digital infrastructure rollout in India' was also unveiled. The paper focuses on the fact that the advent of 5G is going to be a game changer for India and is likely to have a profound impact on the socio-economic fabric. 5G is expected to lead to a surge in data traffic, which will necessitate upgrading existing networks and build new Greenfield ones with a key focus on the future of trends in the telecommunication industry.

Chairman of TRAI Dr P. D. Vaghela, Manipur Chief Secretary Anand Singh and other officials including Dr Rajesh Kumar, Sanjai Kumar, Subhas Chand, Sushil Kumar Chaturvedi were present on the occasion.