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October, 2024
July, 2024
December, 2023
The Telecommunications Act, 2023 modernizes the licensing framework in India by introducing a Right of Way for telecom infrastructure, ensuring streamlined approvals for infrastructure deployment. It empowers authorities to establish telecom standards, promotes infrastructure sharing, and supports the rollout of 5G and other advanced technologies. The Act also extends the scope of the Universal Service Obligation Fund, focusing on underserved areas and enabling broader access to telecom services. It sets a framework for the future of telecom licensing, fostering innovation and enhancing competition.
February, 2023
July, 2022
August, 2020
June, 2020
September, 2018
The National Digital Communications Policy (NDCP), 2018, proposed a light-touch licensing framework to enable the adoption of emerging technologies like 5G, IoT, and M2M (Machine-to-Machine) communications. The policy emphasized delinking spectrum from licensing to promote transparency and competition, while encouraging infrastructure sharing and investment in next-generation networks. NDCP 2018 also sought to rationalize license fees and spectrum usage charges, ensuring a balanced regulatory regime that fosters growth and reduces entry barriers for new players.
August, 2018
May, 2018
August, 2013
According to DoT’s Guidelines for Grant of Unified License, a licensee has to pay a one-time non-refundable Entry Fee of each service and service area before license agreement is signed. While introducing the UL regime, DoT decided to implement it in two phases. In the first phase, spectrum was delinked from license. In the second phase, the concept of “Virtual Network Operators (VNO)” was introduced to facilitate delinking of licensing of networks from the delivery of services.
February, 2012
In the 2012 auction, only the 800 MHz and 1800 MHz bands were available due to the Supreme Court's February 2, 2012 ruling, which cancelled all licenses issued by Raja (except dual technology ones) and ordered new auctions for 2G spectrum, similar to the 2010 3G spectrum process. However, the Court did not cancel Reliance's and other dual technology licenses, as the rules allowed them to access spectrum for the second technology without needing a separate license.
May, 2010
August, 2008
August, 2007
October, 2003
To streamline the licensing process and encourage more participation, the government introduced the Unified Access Service Licensing (UASL) regime in 2003. It was a major shift from earlier regimes where separate licenses were required for different services as the UASL “permitted an access service provider to offer both fixed and/or mobile services under the same license, using any technology.”
March, 2001