The Telecom Act 2023 marks a landmark move by the government which shall redefine the regulatory roadmap of the country’s telecom sector!
The Act will replace the old telegraph centric telecommunications laws i.e. Indian Telegraph Act, 1885, the Indian Wireless Telegraphy Act, 1933, and the Telegraph Wires (Unlawful Possession) Act, 1950 which have become obsolete with the present evolving times. It aims to bring major turmoil in the telecom regulatory arena by amending and consolidating the law on development, expansion and operation of telecommunication services and networks, and assignment of spectrum.
Some of the key takeaways are:
The service providing telecommunication services as defined in the Act shall be taking necessary authorisations from the government. The existing licenses will be valid for the period of their grant.
For some specified purposes including satcom services, the assignment of spectrum shall be based on the administrative basis.
The Over-the-Top (OTT) and messaging apps like WhatsApp, Signal, Telegram etc. have been excluded from the definition of ‘telecom services’.
The government will be taking necessary steps to guard users from spam calls/ messages. Prior consent mechanism and creation of Do Not Disturb registers shall be mandated.
White Water Solutions have prepared a summary and covered the major points that have come out from the draft Telecom Bill, give it a quick read!