New telecom policy makes right noises; timely, efficient rollout to be key

Telecom Minister Manoj Sinha has said NDCP 2018 will be implemented within a year of being tabled in Parliament, but reforms could get side-tracked in the run-up to Lok Sabha elections

The Union Cabinet’s approval to the new telecom policy, now known as the National Digital Communications Policy (NDCP 2018), makes all the right noises about making India a truly connected country. The policy has set 2022 as the target date for achieving the goal of broadband for all. This, according to the new document, would come with the creation of 4 million additional jobs in digital communications, attracting an investment of $100 billion and raising the contribution of the sector to 8 per cent of India’s GDP (from 6 per cent in the previous year). The policy also aspires to