New rules under Telecom Act likely to be implemented in six months

Rules falling under the Telecommunications Act, 2013, will be in place in the next six months, senior sources at the Department of Telecommunications have said.

They partially came into effect on Wednesday.

Without the rules in place, many of the provisions of the Act can’t be enforced, they added.

A case in point, inter-ministerial consultations with the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (Meity) will decide on the rules for intercepting and detaining messages.

Sections 1, 2, 10 to 30, 42 to 44, 46, 47, 50 to 58, 61 and 62 of the Act, which was passed by Parliament in December, last year, came into force on June 26.

Section 20 (2) allows the government to stop the transmission of any message in the interests of public safety and during a public emergency, or intercept and detain any message.

The same Section allows the Centre or state governments to take temporary possession of any telecom service or network during a public emergency, including disaster management or in the interests of public safety.

Relevant Sections dealing with updated rules for Right of Way, both on public and private property, have come into force. The Act has broadened the definition of public entities to include government agencies, local bodies, and public-private partnership projects like airports, seaports, and highways.

In a key move, the government can allow telcos to install mobile towers or lay telecom cables on private properties even if the landowner objects.

The department is working on notifying many provisions that haven’t come into effect. This includes the administrative allocation of spectrum and a leaner dispute-settlement mechanism.

Satellite or orbit is a segment of radio spectrum made available when satellites are put into orbit. A debate over whether the scarce resource should be auctioned or allocated by the government has raged for the past few years.

But the Telecommunications Act, 2023, has included satellite-based services in a list of 19 sectors in which the Centre has the right to administratively allocate spectrum, thereby ending the debate that had split the industry.

The department is working on framing the terms of reference for satellite spectrum allocation, so that the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India can begin consultation with stakeholders.

Officials said it would clarify the methodology of allocation, the frequencies to be used, the pricing of spectrum, and the terms and conditions for satellite operators with regard to national security. Business Standard