The Major Highlights of the DoT Plan for Foreign Companies

Under the upcoming telecom reforms to be announced before the end of this quarter in June, foreign companies will have more leeway to start a business in India without having to partner with an Indian company. The main change will be allowing foreign companies to bid and win spectrum auctions without having any local ties, although they still need approval from the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) according to another official.

"The government has decided that more private telecom companies should enter the market for improved competition, I understand. This is because the current situation with just four firms in India isn't healthy long-term for the sector. So they’re going to ease rules," a government spokesperson told us.

The Department of Telecommunications (DoT) is expected to come out with the next set of reforms for the telecom sector in September 2018. The department has already released the first part of the reforms in September 2016. "The government is working on some specific aspects and will come up with new reforms in time," said an official privy to the development.

“The target is to get more players in the domestic market so that there is competitive bidding for precious national resource such as spectrum,” the official added.

According to the official (Bharti Airtel) "Currently, there are 700 million internet users in India and that number is set to double within the next five years. Spectrum is a valuable national resource and must be managed carefully in order to ensure that government earnings are maximized".

“Major reforms” to the telecom sector were announced among the steps then, including a four-year moratorium on dues attributed to the Supreme Court’s judgment regarding adjusted gross revenue (AGR). For only major reformers, Vodafone Idea and Bharti Airtel agreed to a four-year suspension of debt obligations. Meanwhile, Reliance Jio Infocomm wouldn’t accept the terms.

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