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If the government has its way, it will soon be ‘One Nation’ as far as telecom is concerned — nationwide number portability and no roaming charges. Also, broadband download speed will go up over nine times in four years and consumers may finally get a voice on quality of services in case of disputes with operators.

There is also a move to cut costs for services such as text messages as the government and the regulator prepare a “regulatory framework for delivery of VAS at affordable prices”. Over the years, call charges have dropped from over Rs 30 a minute to around 60 paise now but mobile users have not benefited from competition when it comes to SMS.

While improving the overall quality of service is akey feature of the draft National Telecom Policy 2011, the other focus is to shift towards greater convergence between telecom, IT, broadcast and electronics to upgrade the quality of life and make it an instrument of empowerment. “The primary objective of National Telecom Policy (NTP)-2011 is maximizing public good by making available affordable, reliable and secure telecommunication and broadband services across the entire country,” communications and IT minister Kapil Sibal said while releasing the 27-page document.

Also, mobile phones will become a device of empowerment and could double up as identity proof, the draft says. The policy is moving from e-governance to m-governance as mobile telephony is now cheaper, resulting in more people having access to phones.

“Basic banking services can be accessed via the mobile phone. Individual intimation of all kinds of public and private services like school/college admission/ assignments, pension payment, utility bill payments, first level health services and cash withdrawals/deposits will become the norm. A single number could be called for all government services across all three tiers 24/7,” the paper said while recognizing electronics as the weak link.

The idea is to treat IT and telecom as a basic necessity — just like health or education — and “work towards ‘Right to Broadband’”.

Internet users can look forward to kissing good bye to painfully slow broadband connections, with the policy aiming to double the download speed to 512 kilo bytes per second (Kbps) and then boost it to 2 mega bps by 2015.

But when it comes to other aspects, the draft reads like a statement of intent with the timelines missing.

For instance, it talks about a review of roaming charges “with the ultimate objective of removing the roaming charge across the nation”. Given that mobile operators are already struggling under the weight of falling revenues, there is every chance that they will put up a stiff resistance to the proposal.

Times of India