Draft telecom policy needs to be substantive, not just a mission statement

The draft talks about doubling annual investment in the telecom sector to ₹1 trillion, creating 1 million jobs in this industry, along with reskilling another 1 million, achieving 90% 5G population

The new draft telecom policy, coming seven years after the 2018 National Digital Communications Policy, is ambitious in its goals and mission. The challenge will be in its execution, like it was in the case of the 2018 policy (with a different name) or the ones before that. The draft National Telecom Policy (NTP), 2025, has rightly highlighted job creation as a priority area, besides listing 4G, 5G, and broadband coverage targets, including in rural areas. However, it falls short on near-term delivery objectives. The target year for the policy goals is 2030, which is five years away. As technology,