New Delhi-based policy think tank, Broadband India Forum (BIF) on Friday said the proposed reforms on ease of doing business in the telecom and broadcasting sectors will aid the growth of digital economy.
The statement from BIF follows the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai’s) recent recommendations on ease of doing business in the telecom and broadcasting sectors. Through its recommendations, Trai proposed a reduction in the heavy compliance burden on the operators, simplification of the verification process for licence fees and spectrum usage charge, granting critical and essential service status to submarine cable laying and repair, and a single window portal for inter-departmental and/or inter-ministerial clearances, among other things.
“Coming on the footsteps of the recently announced Space Policy 2023, these proposed reforms in Ease of Doing Business, along with the new Space Policy, are likely to give a big boost to the entire satellite communications & broadcasting sector,” said TV Ramachandran, president of Broadband India Forum.
According to BIF, owing to rapid technological changes, there was a need to change the complex and time-consuming procedures and processes, many of which were associated with the past legacy and have become obsolete or irrelevant over time.
Trai’s recommendations such as transparency in stage-wise status of the application, defining timeline for each stage, setting up of two-way query system online, and shift to online processes are New Space India (NSIL) in the Department of Space, among others are welcomed by BIF.
