{"id":38653,"date":"2023-12-19T12:52:53","date_gmt":"2023-12-19T07:22:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/?p=38653"},"modified":"2025-04-23T13:06:51","modified_gmt":"2025-04-23T07:36:51","slug":"telecom-bill","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/telecom-bill\/","title":{"rendered":"Telecom Bill 2023"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2>What\u2019s in today\u2019s article?<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>Why in news?<\/li>\n<li>The Telecommunications Bill, 2023<\/li>\n<li>Reasons behind the introduction of the Telecommunications Bill, 2023<\/li>\n<li>Key highlights of the Telecommunications Bill, 2023<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>Why in news?<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>The Telecommunications Bill, 2023 was introduced in the Lok Sabha by Union minister for Communications, Electronics &amp; Information Technology.<\/li>\n<li>Among its many significant provisions is one on national security, which allows the government to temporarily take control of telecom services in case of an emergency.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>Reasons behind the introduction of the Telecommunications Bill, 2023<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>Telecommunication sector is a key driver of economic and social development. It is the gateway to digital services.<\/li>\n<li>Security of our country is vitally dependent on safety of telecommunication networks.<\/li>\n<li>Therefore, there is a need to create a legal and regulatory framework that focuses on safe and secure telecommunication network that provides for digitally inclusive growth.<\/li>\n<li>The nature of telecommunication, its usage and underlying technologies have undergone massive changes, especially in the past decade. Therefore, there is a need for <u>enacting a legislation that serves the needs of our society<\/u>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>Key highlights of the Telecommunications Bill, 2023<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>Repeals the existing laws\n<ul>\n<li>The bill repeals the Indian Telegraph Act, 1885, the Indian Wireless Telegraphy Act, 1933, and the Telegraph Wires (Unlawful Possession) Act, 1950.<\/li>\n<li>It also amends the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) Act, 1997.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li>Authorisation for telecom-related activities\n<ul>\n<li>Prior authorisation from the central government will be required to\n<ul>\n<li>provide telecommunication services,<\/li>\n<li>establish, operate, maintain, or expand telecommunications networks, or<\/li>\n<li>possess radio equipment.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li>Existing licences will continue to be valid for the period of their grant, or for five years, where the period is not specified.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li>Assignment of spectrum\n<ul>\n<li>Spectrum will be assigned by auction, except for specified uses, where it will be allocated on an administrative basis.<\/li>\n<li>These include purposes such as:\n<ul>\n<li>national security and defence,<\/li>\n<li>disaster management,<\/li>\n<li>weather forecasting,<\/li>\n<li>transport,<\/li>\n<li>satellite services such as DTH and satellite telephony, and<\/li>\n<li>BSNL, MTNL, and public broadcasting services.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li>The central government may re-purpose or re-assign any frequency range.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li>Powers of interception and search:\n<ul>\n<li>Messages or a class of messages between two or more persons may be intercepted, monitored, or blocked on certain grounds.<\/li>\n<li>Such actions must be necessary or expedient in the interest of public safety or public emergency.\n<ul>\n<li>It must be under specified grounds which include: security of the state; prevention of incitement of offences, or public order.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li>Extraordinary powers of the government\n<ul>\n<li>The government may take <u>temporary possession of any telecom infrastructure, network, or services on occurrence of any public emergency or public safety<\/u>. Telecom services may be suspended on similar grounds.\u00a0<\/li>\n<li>An officer authorised by the government may search premises or vehicles for possession of unauthorised telecom network or equipment.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li>Powers to specify standards\n<ul>\n<li>The central government may prescribe standards and assessments for telecom equipment, infrastructure, networks, and services.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li>Right of way\n<ul>\n<li>Facility providers may seek a <u>right of way over public or private property to establish telecom infrastructure<\/u>.<\/li>\n<li>Right of way must be provided on a non-discriminatory and non-exclusive basis to the extent possible.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li>Protection of users\n<ul>\n<li>The central government may provide for measures to protect users which include:\n<ul>\n<li>prior consent to receive specified messages such as advertising messages,<\/li>\n<li>creation of Do Not Disturb registers, and<\/li>\n<li>a mechanism to allow users to report malware or specified messages.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li>Appointments to TRAI\n<ul>\n<li>The Bill amends the TRAI Act to also allow individuals with:\n<ul>\n<li>at least 30 years of professional experience to serve as the chairperson, and<\/li>\n<li>at least 25 years of professional experience to serve as members.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li>Digital Bharat Nidhi\n<ul>\n<li>The Universal Service Obligation Fund (USOF) has been established under the 1885 Act to provide for telecom services in underserved areas.<\/li>\n<li><u>The Bill retains this provision, renames the fund as Digital Bharat Nidhi, and also allows its use for research and development(R&amp;D)<\/u>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li>Adjudication process\n<ul>\n<li>The central government will appoint an adjudicating officer to conduct inquiries and pass orders against civil offences under the Bill.<\/li>\n<li>The officer must be of the rank of joint secretary and above.<\/li>\n<li>Orders of the adjudicating officer may be appealed before the Designated Appeals Committee within 30 days.<\/li>\n<li>Members of this Committee will be officers of the rank of at least Additional Secretary.<\/li>\n<li>Appeals against the orders of the Committee, in connection to breach of terms and conditions, may be filed with TDSAT (Telecom Disputes Settlement and Appellate Tribunal) within 30 days.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li>Offences and penalties:\n<ul>\n<li>The Bill specifies various criminal and civil offences.<\/li>\n<li>Providing telecom services without authorisation, or gaining unauthorised access to a telecom network or data, are punishable with imprisonment up to three years, a fine up to two crore rupees, or both.<\/li>\n<li>Breaching terms and conditions of authorisation is punishable with a civil penalty up to five crore rupees.<\/li>\n<li>Possessing unauthorised equipment, or using unauthorised network or service, is punishable with a penalty of up to ten lakh rupees.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<hr \/>\n<h3>Q1)\u00a0What is Telecom Disputes Settlement and Appellate Tribunal (TDSAT)?<\/h3>\n<p>The Telecom Disputes Settlement and Appellate Tribunal (TDSAT) was established in 2000 to resolve disputes and appeals in the Indian telecommunications sector. The TDSAT&#8217;s goal is to protect the interests of consumers and service providers, and to ensure the sector&#8217;s orderly growth.<\/p>\n<h3>Q2) What is Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI)?<\/h3>\n<p>The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) is a government regulatory body that regulates the telecommunications sector in India. TRAI&#8217;s mission is to create conditions for the growth of telecommunications in India.<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p><strong>Source:<\/strong> <a href=\"https:\/\/indianexpress.com\/article\/explained\/everyday-explainers\/telecom-bill-2023-what-powers-government-national-security-9073347\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\"><u>Telecom Bill 2023: What powers it gives the government for \u2018national security\u2019<\/u><\/a><u> | <\/u><a href=\"https:\/\/prsindia.org\/billtrack\/the-telecommunication-bill-2023\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\"><u>PRS<\/u><\/a><u> | <\/u><a href=\"https:\/\/www.hindustantimes.com\/technology\/trai-chairperson-from-private-sector-telecom-bill-lays-down-new-eligibility-norms-101702889376601.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\"><u>Hindustan Times<\/u><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Telecommunication sector is a key driver of economic and social development.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":38654,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-38653","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-upsc-mains-current-affairs","8":"no-featured-image-padding"},"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38653","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=38653"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38653\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/38654"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=38653"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=38653"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=38653"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}