NEW DELHI: Expressing satisfaction that many of its demands had been met in the latest recommendations by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India, Broadband India Forum has said it is a small but significant step in the right direction to help reduce the burden of the TSP/ISPs as well as that of the VSAT service-providers thereby paving the way for a more active engagement of the ISPs and TSPs offering Internet Access Services to increase broadband penetration in the country
BIF president T V Ramachandran hoped that this would be the first of many such recommendations from the Regulator to expedite broadband penetration and the vision of the prime minister to fully realise the dream of 'Digital India'.
He said the recommendations for streamlining the procedure/process of allocation of satellite capacity and the frequency allocation subsequently by WPC for VSAT service providers and capping it to be provided in a time bound manner –within a span of three months was indeed praiseworthy.
He said further went on to mention that the idea of a single window clearance for all clearances/approvals/payments through a transparent online mechanism was a “wonderful and welcome idea in this age of digital payments and single point responsibility”.
Ramachandran said BIF's position stand vindicated on many of the points made by the Regulator stand vindicated. These include the given spectrum bands be charged administratively and on a link-by-link basis; P-AGR should not be prescribed either for ISP licenses or for Commercial VSAT Licenses; SUC calculation/determination should continue to be based on the existing formula instead of as a percentage of the AGR; and delayed payment in case of SUC should be charged on the basis of SBI PLR +2%.
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